This Christmas
by rhig122
Summary: Percy has 12 special days of Christmas planned for his girlfriend but with grinches and trouble abound, will he be able to give her the best gift of all?
1. Prologue

This Christmas

* * *

 **Prologue – December 24** **th**

 ** _Annabeth_**

* * *

 ** __**"NO!"

"What do you mean no?" I shot back, trying to find my courage, but under my step-mothers glare, I was faltering.

"I mean no. _No_ , we will not be coming back to spend the holidays with you and Percy. You know your father and I do not approve of your whole situation and in light of this new issue with the two of you, we really can't be a part of your life."

"You are crazy, you know that, right?" I hollered back at the woman. I didn't want to yell but she was literally driving me insane and I knew that I would never get my point across to her if I didn't. "Dad has absolutely no issue with Percy and if he did, he would have told me himself! Why do you have to ruin everything for me?"

I could feel the tears swirling in my eyes as I tried desperately to blink them back. It was rare that Helen could make me cry but she was in fine form tonight, coming at me during the holidays which were already hard enough on me since my mother passed away.

"You know, despite what she told you, your mother didn't approve either," she yelled back, stepping forward in an attempt to intimidate me, and one that was working.

"You liar! You have no clue what my mother approved and didn't approve, and you are the reason I didn't get to see Dad that often growing up. You could control me to some extent then, but not anymore Helen. Honestly, I don't have a clue why Dad is even still married to you!"

Arms wrapped around my waist and began pulling me out of the large family room. "Stop it, Bobby! Let me go!"

"Bobby, you let her go now!"

"No Mom, I am tired of you arguing with her. Why do you have to make her feel like such crap when she comes to visit?" My half-brother demanded, authority in his voice for once, standing up for me when he usually stood by and watched, much as my father was doing from upstairs as he paced his study.

"She hates the fact that I was first, that Dad had a life before she came along," I bawled as my brother continued to attempt to remove me from the situation.

"Annabeth, shut up! You aren't helping any! Now go to the car. Matthew packed all of your stuff for you and is waiting, you have a flight to catch."

"And thank god," Helen retorted, arms across her chest as she tried to main in control. "And we won't be coming out for New Year's until that damn living situation has been corrected."

"Mother, shut up! Beth, go to Matthew, _now_ ," Bobby screamed at us as he shoved me toward the front door.

I walked out of the house, trying to curb my tears as I reached for my phone. It had buzzed several times during my 'talk' with Helen and I managed to ignore it as I knew grabbing it would infuriate her even more.

* * *

 ** _Percy  
_** The phone rang annoyingly in my ear as I waited for Annabeth to answer. I had already called twice; hoping she would answer before she left her father's home. This was the first Christmas in a decade that we hadn't spent the entire holiday together and I was beginning to wallow. I was also beginning to worry. I had an entire twelve days set up just for her. Well, the two of us. I had our lives completely planned out, and perfect for the next twelve days.

Rolling my eyes, I slammed my thumb into the red end call button and released an angry sigh I didn't realize I was holding.

She left my apartment on the seventeenth for her father's in California in a less than stellar mood and I had barely heard from her of the past week. I knew things were bleak back on the west coast, but I had no clue the nature of things because she refused to answer the phone most of the time.

I closed my eyes and threw myself into the sofa, allowing the darkness of my place to fall over me. I wanted to be with her. In fact, I begged her to let me tag along. I knew that she was going to need a buffer between her and her step-mother, but she insisted that she didn't need me, that she could handle things.

Shadows suddenly lurched across the living room ceiling as my phone lit up in my hand. I slowly lifted the device and quickly answered, "Hey babe. How are things in your neck of the woods?"

There was sniffling on the other end and I instantly sat up. I wanted to wrap her in a hug, but she was across the country and I wasn't exactly sure when she would be back in my arms.

"Annabeth?"

"I'm here," she whispered, sniffling once again.

"What happened?" My defensive side was coming out and I knew her step-mother had a hand in her current state.

"She is awful, Percy! Why did I even come out here?"

"Your father and your brothers asked you to. You obliged."

"I should have let you come. I should have listened to you," she whined to me, her voice cracking here and there as she tried to remain in control.

"Will you come get me?"

"Of course I will. Just tell me when."

"Flight lands at one-forty-five. I should have my bags and be out front by two."

"I will see you then. Your place or mine?" I was secretly hoping she would say mine. It would make Christmas morning that much easier on me but right now, I was all about whatever she needed.

"Yours. I don't even want to bother going home right now. We can just pick my car up after lunch, drop it off and then go straight to your mom's."

She started sniffling again and my heart broke. "Don't let her get to you and sounds like a solid plan."

"I will see you in a couple of hours. Bobby and Matthew are currently fighting over who is driving me to the airport and the witch is screaming at them that they aren't going. My father is in there somewhere pacing, which in turn is making my head hurt more."

The sad part in all of this was that I could picture the entire scene. Her half-brothers being the wild brats that their mother allowed to happen and yet at the same time, big kids who adored their big sister. I still played video games with the boys online. I knew where their allegiances lied and for that I would always love her brothers. Her father, her poor father. What Frederick Chase ever saw in his wife was beyond me. I thought Annabeth's mother was intense until I met Helen Chase for the first time. That was an experience I would rather not relive. The man spent more time pacing and trying to keep the peace in the home whenever his first born was brought up and heaven forbid her mother find her way into the conversation: all hell broke loose.

"Take some Tylenol and go sit in the car. They will get their shit together and get you back to me in one piece and if they don't there will be hell to pay."

I could almost see the slight grin on her face as she snorted through a sob. "I love you."

"I love you too. See you soon."

She hung up without another word and I tried to calm myself. My girlfriend would be home in about five and half hours and then our Christmas would begin but the little voice at the back of my head started messing me with. _'She is going to lose her mind when she realizes what you are doing Percy!'_

I shook my head and immediately called her father.

"Hel –"

"– Frederick! What the hell is going on over there?" I didn't want to lose it on her father, but he was not supposed to be sending her home to me in a mood.

"Percy, you know how Helen can be and you know how stubborn Annabeth is . . ."

The man faded away for a moment as we both sighed. "What was it this time?"

"Let her tell you. This one was pretty bad, and I don't feel comfortable getting into that without knowing if she wants you to know or not."

"You aren't helping me any here."

"I know, I know. I just really think you need to talk to her."

"Is this going to affect her twelve days of Christmas at all? Do I need to rethink my entire plan?" My voice was panicked, and my heart dropped as he didn't answer immediately.

"It shouldn't. She is more upset with Helen than anything. I am praying that everything goes off without a hitch for you. You two deserve every last bit of happiness this world has to offer you."

My heart soared for a moment, I just had to pray that he was right. Helen once broke us up for two months, so I wouldn't put anything past her at this point in our lives.

"Just get in the car with Bobby and Matthew and get her to the airport. I already sent her out to the car."

"Will do. I will see you on the fifth, Percy."

"Goodnight Dad. See you in a few days and I expected better of this trip."

The man groaned on the other end and a smile graced my face. I quickly hung up and set the alarm on my phone, just in case I fell asleep. I found myself praying that everything I had set up for the next twelve days would work out just as planned and she would love every gift.

My eyes closed in the dark of my apartment, visions of Annabeth swirling in my head and I succumbed to the need of sleep.

* * *

"You're late, Perseus," she droned, throwing her bag in the back seat, before I could even get to the other side of the Explorer to open the door for her.

"Annabeth, I am sorry." I knew better than to argue with her right now. My alarm went off, but apparently my running around and planning the next twelve days was more work than I thought and I turned it off instead of hitting the snooze button.

I pulled her to me the moment I was within reach and she immediately collapsed into my arms.

"Not your fault. I'm sorry," she whined as tears began to soak through my jacket and to my shirt.

I left a kiss on the top of her head and she exploded into sobs.

"What is wrong with you? I have never seen you come back from your father's this upset before."

"I don't know," she wailed, burying her head into my neck. "Helen got to me and I just lost it on her!"

I left another kiss on the top of her head and ushered her into the car. "Buckle up. You need sleep and I am not going to let that woman ruin our Christmas!"

I didn't wait for her to answer, it was plain to see that this trip could easily ruin everything I had planned if I didn't play my cards right with her.

"When you're ready to talk," I replied quietly, climbing into the driver's seat, "just let me know."

She nodded at me, sucking in several quick, deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. "Sleep," she mumbled sadly was all she replied.

"Sorry, I am such a mess."

"No need to apologize to me babe," I responded, pushing loose curls out of her face as she leaned back into my shoulder.

"She just . . . just . . . made me question everything," she exploded as more tears began to fall.

"What do you mean?" I didn't want to force her into telling me anything she wasn't ready to but at the same time, I needed to know, because, curiosity. Plus, I needed to know why I was going to be chewing Helen out here shortly.

She shrugged her shoulders and shoved her hands to her face. "She told me that Dad doesn't approve of our living arrangements nor the way we live our lives."

I straightened behind her, rage coursing through my veins. I knew that her father didn't mind. This was all Helen trying to get a rise out of Annabeth, and she knew exactly how to do it.

"There is nothing wrong with our living arrangements. There is also absolutely nothing wrong with the way we live our lives!"

"Percy, we are twenty-seven years old! We can't seem to decide on a place to live and bounce from my place to yours –"

"– let me cut you off right there! That absolutely has no bearing on how I feel about you. So, we don't have a place to call our own yet. We will get there! Right now, this works for us and why should your step-mother or father have any say in that?"

She sucked in several more breaths between the sobs as she tried to look at me. "It doesn't. She just made me question everything is all, and she is good at planting that seed of doubt."

I placed a kiss on the tip of her nose and turned her back around so that I could massage her shoulders. "Don't you ever doubt me, Annabeth Chase."

Her sobs slowed as I continued digging my thumbs into her neck and eventually she calmed, relaxing into me as we both watched the lights on my Christmas tree twinkle, lulling us to sleep.


	2. Day 1

**Day 1 – December 25** **th**

 _ **Percy**_  
I woke to what could only be described as a feeling of utter terror; terror that someone was in your home, just watching you. It was so unsettling that I jolted awake, falling off the sofa and practically landed in my girlfriend's lap.

"What the hell, Annabeth? Are you going for the creepiest girlfriend award or what?"

"I was just running a little experiment . . . you drool in your sleep by the way."

"I know," I replied, a sheepish grin spreading across my face as I sat up and pulled her to me, "you informed me of that when we were twelve years old."

"Your first year at camp," she smiled back, leaving a small kiss on my cheek. "Merry Christmas, Seaweed Brain."

"Merry Christmas, Wise Girl."

Before I could even pull her to me completely, she was up and making her way toward the tree. I couldn't help but watch as she moved with ease, her blonde ringlets bouncing as she pulled down our stockings and brought them back to us.

"Remember, there is more at your mom's, so don't judge the little bit in the stocking," she exclaimed, dropping the heavy sock in my lap before dropping down at my side.

"You act like I am a greedy ten-year-old waiting for my presents from Santa or something."

She glared at me, the lines between her eyes showing up as she tried to keep herself from either smacking me or saying something she didn't really mean.

"Yeah, well remember last year, I believe there was a Dudley sized fit over the fact that there weren't enough gifts," she deadpanned, emptying the contents of her stocking in her lap.

I nudged her with an elbow as she picked up a small package. "Your mother would probably disagree with you on that one, but I digress." She fell silent for a moment as she rolled the package over in her hands several times before looking up at me with sad eyes.

"I was having a Harry Potter moment, I figured all of you would appreciate the joke," I retorted, trying to keep the atmosphere light. I could tell that last night was still weighing on her and the last thing I wanted was her to be in tears again.

"If you remember, I did laugh. Everyone else seemed to lose their minds and go off on you," she replied, a small smile playing at her lips while she started playing with the terribly taped ends of her package.

"That you did," I replied quietly.

Finally, she broke the present free of its wrappings, a brand new bottle of her favorite perfume landing in her lap and she leaned over to hug me.

"Thank you for paying attention."

"You're welcome." I left a kiss on her cheek and she quickly went back to digging through her goodies and setting her bags of Reese's trees and Kit Kats aside, and after a beat, I did the same.

There was nothing but the sound of paper ripping and candy being opened when I got a little overly excited. "YES," I screamed out, causing her to jump back, falling over to the carpet in a fit of giggles.

"I knew those two games would make you happy," she exclaimed through the laughter.

"Damn straight," I replied as I threw myself on top of her, pinning her down and leaning in for a kiss which she gladly accepted.

We were lost in each other, something that I honestly felt hadn't happened in a while and I was a bit taken aback when she pulled away from me.

"What's wrong?"

"Look at the time!"

I glanced down at my watch and then back at her. "Oh shit! We have to go! Up and at 'em Wise Girl!" Jumping to my feet, I quickly pulled her to standing and then took off down the hall toward the bathroom, not noticing that I had left her behind in a frazzled tizzy.

I was in the bathroom when I realized that she wasn't behind me and I immediately back tracked to find her leaned against the wall as she rubbed her right temple.

"You okay, babe?"

She nodded slowly, "Yeah. Sudden headache and nausea. I need more sleep and food."

I took this as my cue and scooped her up, taking her straight to the shower and for once she didn't complain as this gesture usually resulted in her screaming at me to put her down. "Quick hot shower will do you some good. I will find the Tylenol and have it ready for you when you get out. The sooner we get to Mom's, the sooner we get to eat!"

* * *

We arrived at my mother's only forty minutes later than planned and as soon as my mom got a look at Annabeth, she didn't even complain. She glared at me (like I had something to do with Annabeth's terrible mood) and simply pulled her into a hug and rushed her to the kitchen for a quick pick me up of blue sugar cookies and hot apple cider and I was never more thankful.

The headache reached a peak while she was in the shower, causing her to throw up all over me as she attempted to make a beeline for the toilet and instead slammed into me. This sent her into another crying fit, but thankfully she calmed much easier than last night. The hot water and massage brought her back to reality as the Tylenol did its job.

To save us some time, I also called in reinforcements and got Luke and Thalia to pick up her car from the airport. I figured the last thing she needed was another reminder of her terrible trip to San Francisco and was grateful that Thalia owed me so many favors.

While Mom tended to Annabeth, I unloaded the car, wondering how on earth we ended up with enough presents to easily fill the entire floor not only under the tree but several feet out.

"Good god man! Who the hell is all of that for?"

"I haven't a damn clue, but help me with some of this stuff, don't just stand there looking pretty!"

Luke laughed and happily obliged, pulling several bags and some small boxes from my hands. "Your girl-friend is insane! _All_ of these are for Jasper," he yelled, inspecting the name tags as he followed me toward the house. "He's only eight days old, what the hell does he need with all of this?"

I laughed at my friend and responded, "You're just jealous that he's the cute one and is getting all the presents now!"

Luke glared at me, but I ignored him as we placed everything down in the living room. I admired the room my mother decorated for us and my heart swelled as I took in the room full of gifts. How I would have killed for this growing up, as usually Christmas consisted of just the two of us as Dad was out god knows where doing god knows what. I didn't grow up with half of what I had now but that made me who I am and gave me everything I have today.

I forced back tears as I thought about the start of my twelve gifts for Annabeth and giggling in the kitchen caught my attention and Luke and I quickly gravitated toward the noise.

As I walked into the kitchen, I instantly noticed that Annabeth looked one-hundred times better than she did when we arrived almost twenty minutes ago. The color was back in her cheeks and her eyes sparkled as she nibbled on one of my mom's blue sugar cookies.

I tried to make my way through the throng of people that had quickly congregated around the island, only to find myself stopped by my mother.

"She is beyond stressed Perce. Keep a close eye on her please," she whispered, grabbing my upper arm and painfully dragging me away from the group.

"Owe! Merry Christmas to you too!"

My mother turned her amber orbs on me and immediately I shirked back. That look could still frighten me, and I knew she meant business.

"Percy, your plan can easily be thrown off today, and lord knows, we don't want to see that happen!"

"Please don't tell me that," I whined.

"Helen really did a number on her this last week, I just pray your plan works." The concern in her eyes was worrisome as I watched her watch Annabeth behind me.

"Gee, thanks Mom. You are really instilling a lot of confidence in me here. You almost make it sound like she is going to break up with me!"

"Just go over there and give her an amazing Christmas Percy. Make her forget about everything Helen told her, because lord have mercy that woman really messed with her mind."

"How the heck do you know what is going?" I questioned quietly, glancing back at Annabeth as she laughed lightly with Nico, Will, and Luke. I could tell she was still upset but in lieu of the holiday, she was plastering on her best fake smile. "She told me when she was ready to talk she would tell me everything and yet here you are with apparently more information than I know!"

My mother glared at me, the creases in her forehead appearing and I knew the look well. It was one I would get every time I did something stupid and caused her worry.

"Just give her time and make her happy, now shoo! I have a lunch to finish."

Turning back around, I came across the most beautiful sight; Annabeth, now cradling Thalia's newborn son, Jasper. ' _In time Percy, in time!_ '

* * *

"Want me to take him?"

Gray eyes looked up at me sleepily and a smile graced her face. "No, but you can stay right here and rock us both to sleep."

"But you still have a few more presents to open," I whined, sitting down behind her, leaning against the sofa and then pulling her into my lap, completing her request.

"I can open them in a bit. We still have several hours of Christmas left and Thalia will be taking this cutie home in a little while and I am enjoying my time with him."

I put my cheek against hers and we smiled at the same time. The onyx haired bundle sighed and snuggled into her chest even more and I felt her sigh in content.

"Thinking ahead?" I whispered in her ear, leaving a small kiss behind.

She turned her head to look up at me with sad, stormy eyes and yet a small smile. ' _What aren't you telling me? Let me make this better!_ '

"Maybe," she whispered back, kissing the tiny forehead that bobbled back and forth.

"We'll get there, babe. I promise," I replied quietly.

"Annabeth, if he gets too fussy, you can give him back."

"I take it you miss your kid?" she giggled, adjusting Jasper in her arms, instantly calming him.

"A little," Thalia admitted as she snuggled into the giant robe Annabeth insisted she needed.

"Fine, take him," Annabeth whined.

"You're fine. I just need you to open this real fast," my cousin shot back, tossing a Christmas card sized envelope in our direction.

It landed next to me and I scooped it up, my heart racing as I handed it over to Annabeth.

"What's this?" She asked quietly, resituating the baby one more time so that she could open the envelope. Slowly, she pulled out the snow-white envelope, craft herpes falling into her lap, and a groan escaping her as she moved even more carefully than before.

 _Annabeth,  
You are about to embark on a journey. A journey that will last twelve wonderful days and starts today! Each day you will be given a gift. Each gift is different in its own right, and each gift has a special meaning. _

"Percy, no! You can't –"

"– yes, I can. Now finish reading," I protested, snapping my fingers and making her focus back on the letter in her hands.

She groaned at me but continued.

 _Your only job is to enjoy each gift and the meaning behind them. You may not complain about the next twelve days at any time either! Be a good girl and play along for the sake of your boyfriend's sanity. Please enjoy your first gift._

 _Love,  
Santa_

She looked up at me, tears swirling in her steel orbs and I pulled out a small box from my pocket, slowly holding it out for her to take.

"Percy, it's too much. I can already tell it's too much. I know I didn't spend that much on you!"

I placed a finger on her lips and shushed her. "That is not the point of this Beth. The point is for you to know just how loved you are. Besides, Santa said no complaining, so open the box!"

"Santa's not real you know," she argued with me.

"For the next twelve days he is, now open!"

She took the box and slowly started the unwrapping process. The whole room was watching with bated breath, but I didn't notice anyone but Annabeth. I moved so that I could watch her face as she opened the box and was not prepared for her to almost drop the baby as one hand came to her mouth and the other pulled the necklace from the box.

I caught Jasper before he flipped over Annabeth's arms and tried to calm him as she began to cry uncontrollably. I saw Thalia move at almost lightning speed, but I glared at her as I assured her that her son was fine.

"Annabeth, what's wrong? Jasper . . . shhhhhh," I cooed to the baby, praying I could calm him down the way Annabeth could and I wasn't having much luck.

"You . . . you . . ." she sobbed, a hand still over her mouth as she stared at the gift.

"Shhhh, little cousin, I've got you. You're fine," I continued to coo as I watched Annabeth out of the corner of my eye.

Suddenly there was a sharp pain in my right shoulder as Annabeth slugged me with what felt like all her might.

"You asshole! You let me . . ." she hiccupped, "you let me think it was lost," she wailed.

"In my defense, it was lost, babe! I just happened to find it two weeks after you said you lost it. The chain was broken, and the pearl was all scuffed up, so I took it to the jeweler and figured I would surprise you."

"It's beautiful," she sniffled, holding her hand out and leaning toward me so that I could put the necklace back on her.

I quickly took the necklace in one hand (glancing at the gray pearl I found during our first beach trip and my heart swelled at the memory that reminded me just why I loved this woman) and handed her Jasper once again.

I quickly placed the necklace around her neck, locking the mechanism in place and turned to look at her once more. The gray pearl sat perfectly on her chest, just below the collarbone. The delicate sphere which was once on its own was now wrapped around the top with a diamond encrusted circle that came to a point at the top, forming an almost teardrop like shape. I made sure the silver box chain remained dainty and yet strong, just like Annabeth.

Smiling up at her, I replied, "It's beautiful on you."

She wasted no time, pulling me to her by the collar of my shirt. "Thank you, Jackass," she whispered, "and I love you," she finished before pulling me in the rest of the way for a kiss I graciously accepted.

* * *

Author's Note

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

I'm back..for a solid 13 days anyway!

I want to thank 3 for the idea and for being my beta. So bare with me as I post randomly throughout the next 11 days. I was going to attempt to post at the same time every day but that just isn't going to happen. Thanks for the follows, faves and comments left already! Hope you enjoyed Day 1!


	3. Day 2

**Day 2 – December 26th**

 ** _Percy  
_** I stretched and looked over at the clock. I hated that my internal alarm still went off, even though I was on break for another two weeks. I rolled back the other way and wrapped an arm around Annabeth and my eyes popped all the way open.

"Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for work?" I almost yelled the question at her but managed to keep myself a little calmer than I was feeling.

"Ugh, Percy . . . sleep," she croaked, rolling over and burying her face in my chest.

"Work?"

"Nu-uh."

"Bills don't pay themselves babe," I deadpanned and then shirked away from her as a fist met my gut.

"I took the day off. Thalia has a post-natal appointment and doesn't want Jasper in the doctor's office catching god knows what. And later this afternoon I am going dress shopping with Silena to help her find the perfect wedding dress, so if you are keeping up with this whole twelve days nonsense, you will have to catch me this morning or later tonight."

"Hey, Santa said no complaining!"

"Mmm hmm, whatever you say Perce," she yawned into my chest, "and I wasn't complaining, just making an observation."

I dropped my lips to the top of her head and kissed her crown as she snuggled back in and quickly fell back asleep. My brain was spinning, trying to figure out what she wasn't telling me and just what exactly happened with Helen that had her so exhausted. She never crashed like this unless she was getting sick and it was rare that she ever got sick. Jasper being here meant she would be pretty much be lost to me for a couple of hours, not that it would matter. I really couldn't give her the gift with him here anyway. I wanted her to appreciate what I was doing for her so during dinner tonight would have to do.

At some point I fell asleep with her in my arms and was rudely woken up by my cousin standing over me, glaring down at us, her electric blue eyes almost giving off sparks.

"What the hell, Thalia?" I blurted out, practically throwing Annabeth off me.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked, blindly searching for me.

"You were supposed to take my kid at nine-thirty! It's nine-forty-five! I don't even want to know what the hell was going on in here to knock you back out but come on, I am going to be late," Thalia screamed at us, waking her son and thus setting her off into a sickening stream of coos in baby talk.

"You are going to ruin his fragile little brain talking to him like that," Annabeth replied, standing quickly, and then sitting back down on the edge of the bed.

Thalia and I both glanced over at her, worry plastered on our faces.

"Don't look at me like that! I am fine; no fever or anything, just exhausted. That trip back home just really drained me."

Thalia gave her a bit of side eye but replied, "If you say so."

"I say so; now, leave Percy with everything and go or you are going to be really late. We can handle this for a couple of hours," Annabeth whined, moving slowly toward the bathroom and as Thalia and I looked up at her, she in turn glared back at us, biting back with a, "now go!"

Thalia threw her arms up quick then leaned over to give Jasper a kiss before marching out of the bedroom.

"Who was the genius that gave her a key?" I groaned, pulling Jasper from his seat as Annabeth closed her eyes and leaned against the door frame. I watched her out of the corner of my eye and a small smile spread across her face before she disappeared across the threshold.

"Me, be thankful all she did was bust in, she could have set the place on fire," she called to me from the bathroom.

"Don't remind me of that! Jasper, your mother is insane, please come to me whenever you need to little man." The baby cooed up at me, not understanding a word and suddenly I understood the appeal. I knew instantly why Annabeth was so enamored with him and the urge to start a family with her was overwhelming.

At some point while talking to Jasper, Annabeth snuck back into the room and eventually made her way to my side.

"He's perfect, isn't he?"

"For now," I whispered, "he is part Thalia and part Luke, so that there is a massive downfall."

She punched me in the arm and leaned over to kiss the baby in my arms. "You're still perfect, aren't you Little One."

"One day, _ours_ will be perfect. Little Cousin here won't even stand a chance against our babies." I sighed, content, as she rested her head on my shoulder. With a free hand, I pushed her hair off her face and gave her a gentle kiss only to have her break out into sobs.

"Are you ever going to tell me what the hell Helen said to you on your trip?"

She shook her head and quickly pulled away from me, quickly leaving the room.

"It's going to be a long day Little Cousin," I released in a sad breath, slowly making my way in the direction Annabeth disappeared.

 ** _Annabeth  
_** After my quick meltdown with Percy – I had to remove myself from the situation – only to have him follow me into the living room. I was able to get myself back into check emotionally and managed to avoid the topic of my step-mother thanks to Jasper's sudden need to be fed.

I wasn't ready to discuss every dirty detail with him and right now, I wasn't so sure that she was wrong about everything. I know Percy loves me more than anything, but the man is moving at a snail's pace and I'm not sure how much longer I can wait on him. I would have to make decisions soon but the least I could do was give him his twelve days before making any rash decisions.

The mood stayed light as we took turns feeding and changing the baby while watching one of my favorite Christmas movies and I could feel myself beginning to drift once again.

"When do you head out with Silena?" Percy's voice was soft in my ear as he pushed a strand of hair out of my face.

"Umm . . . I think she said she would be here at one-thirty. I need to check my texts again to make sure that's what she said."

"You going to catch lunch with her or do you want me to heat up something?"

I closed my eyes and caved to his touch, his fingers leaving small circles on the back of my neck as he watched Jasper.

"Mmmm," I moaned, closing my eyes, trying to remember what Silena and I discussed. Along with being exhausted, my memory seemed to be fading quickly as well. "Get my phone for me and I will let you know," I whined involuntarily.

"On it," he replied, leaving a kiss on my temple. He returned moments later with the device, dropping it in my lap and taking the baby from me as he began to fuss.

I opened the home screen to find a text from Thalia:  
 _'Don't each lunch. Coming to get you and the babe and we will meet Silena at Olive Garden at 1.30. Don't let Percy feed you! Love ya and see ya in a bit!'_

"I guess I am eating with Thals and Silena at one-thirty. I was warned to have you not feed me."

"And they think this is wise?" he questioned back with a laugh.

"I just want a piece of toast or two. I am not going to make it that long without at least a little something."

"On it," he called from somewhere behind me. "At least I can enjoy another two hours of cuddle time with the two of you before I am left to a day of boredom."

"Oh please, like you aren't dying to hook up the Xbox One," I deadpanned, and he laughed loudly, setting off the fussy baby. "Bring him here, I got this one," I replied, throwing my arms in the air and waiting for the crying bundle.

* * *

"Annabeth, you are really worrying me. Normally, we come to Olive Garden and you pig out. You have barely touched your food," Silena worried, causing me to shirk back in my chair.

"I am exhausted and just not hungry," I whined in return, "Helen stressed me out. Yelled at me, swore up and down they weren't coming for New Year's –"

"– so basically, you're depressed," Thalia piped up, shoving in a string of pasta.

"If that is what you want to call it," I replied, playing with the noodles on my plate.

"Please, just eat for me Annabeth," Silena pleaded with me, "God, I sound like a worried mother pleading with a toddler!"

I cracked a small smile and took a bite out of my alfredo. "There, happy?"

"I would be happier if you ate it all, but a bite is better than nothing," she retorted, a smile on her face.

"What has you so destroyed anyway? I have never seen you come back this messed up from Cali."

"I don't want to talk about it Thals."

"Fine, whatever. Just don't be a mopey crybaby while we are helping Silena find a dress, okay?"

I glared at my friend as I felt my heart break. Our next stop wasn't going to be easy on me and while Thalia was right, I knew I was going to have to keep my emotions in check because today was about Silena. This was her time to shine.

* * *

"What do you think of this one?" Silena asked, twirling in the poufy, princess style dress.

"I don't know, that looks more like something Annabeth would wear, not you."

I was lost in my own little world, not really paying attention to the pair as I dug through a rack full of dusty blush colored dresses. At the sound of my name, I spun around and my jaw hit the ground. The dress was beyond stunning and absolutely me. Silena's tiny frame however could not fill out the dress properly and I suddenly found myself envious.

The strapless, heart shaped bodice clung to her torso beautifully, every last jewel and rhinestone, shining with every movement, but she was too short which in turn caused the mountain of tulle to fall below her hips instead of at her waist. It was also far too long for her stature and formed a puddle silvery fabric at her feet.

"Annabeth, go look at that rack over there," Silena said with a smile on her face, "there is another one that I am almost positive is in your size."

"Silena, why would I do that? We are here for you, not me –"

"– oh, who cares? There are thousands of beautiful dresses here and you should get a chance to try some on while we are here. Who says you can't dream?" Silena dropped her hands to her hips and gave me her best impression of my mother.

"Fine," I shot back, shoving the dresses down the rack and making my way to the rack Silena pointed at. It wasn't fair and I shouldn't be upset that Silena was getting everything she wanted in life but I couldn't help but let that little pang of jealousy take over.

Immediately I found the dress and, as usual, Silena was right and there was one sitting there in my size. Yanking the dress off the rack, I strode off toward the changing rooms, ignoring the two sets of eyes that were boring into my backside.

I quickly slipped on the dress and for a moment my mood shifted. The jewel encrusted top sparkled in the mirror and I smiled at my reflection. I could absolutely see myself in this dress on my wedding day.

Forcing myself out of the stall, I made my way back to my friends. "Thalia! Where are you? I need your help," I called, working my way back into the main part of the store to which I found the pair cooing over Jasper and Silena already in a new dress.

"Oh my God, Annabeth, you are absolutely stunning," Silena gasped at me as she quickly made her way in my direction.

"Help me! I can't get this damn zipper up all of the way," I complained, trying to move the zipper on my own still.

"Stop it! Here, I've got it," Thalia cried, moving toward me and twirling a finger forcing me to turn around. "There, now get up there," she retorted, shoving me in the back toward the stage Silena was previously on.

"Okay, look at me," Silena called to me, snapping a photo the moment I turned around.

"Thals, you were absolutely right! That dress is absolutely perfect on her," she gushed, snapping several more pictures in the process. "Look how that skirt sparkles, and the bodice . . . you really need to reserve this one Annabeth."

That one comment was enough to kill my mood.

"Spin for me. I want to see the back."

I did as she asked of me and tried to keep the panic and tears at bay. What was the point in reserving the dress when Percy still hadn't popped the question? He had to know that I was going to say yes. That I would never turn him down. I was just waiting for him to make the first move. My heart hurt as I tried to hide my emotions.

 ** _Percy  
_** I picked up the phone as it buzzed next to me to see a message from Silena.

 _'Oh my God, Perce . . . I wish you were here to see this on her in person! Only ten more days and then you can but I have it on hold and put your name on it. It needs absolutely no alterations and is ready for pick up, whenever you want to stop by and get it.'_

Below the text was several images of Annabeth in the most amazing silvery-white dress I had ever seen. Jewels sparkled all over the top and down into the skirt that hit the floor.

The images took my breath away, but the woman had that effect on me daily.

 _'Thank you Silena. I wholeheartedly appreciate your help. Now bring her home to me so I can get some food in her and give her today's gift!'_

 _'On it! I will have her back to you in about an hour.'_

I sent back a thumbs up and tried to go back to my game but I found myself constantly going back to the images of her in the dress.

Little did she know, that in ten days she would be marrying me (so long as she didn't run away when she realized what was going on) and our lives would change for the better.

I heard a car pull up in the parking lot below my balcony and I jumped up to see if it was the girls. I ran to the door and held it open, waiting for her to come up the stairs. She didn't waste any time, the moment she hit the landing she was in my arms.

"Babe, what on earth is wrong with you?" I asked cautiously, closing the door behind her, only to have her pull me in tighter.

"I just . . . I just want what Silena and Beckendorf have!"

"What on earth are you talking about?" I questioned, leading her into the apartment all of the way.

"I want the whole experience Percy," she cried in my ear.

"I am so lost. What experience?"

"How can you be so dense? How can you not see everything in front of your Percy?"

She pulled away from me and paced the living room for several moments, only to stop and glare at me and then turn toward the kitchen. She suddenly burst into tears again and ran from the room toward the room we shared. A door slammed and I cringed in reflex.

"Crap!"

How in the hell was I supposed to give her the next gift when she was locked away in the bedroom crying? This gift was also the most essential gift of them all. It set up everything for day twelve and I needed her out of this funk.

 _'There goes dinner and any plans for the rest of this week,'_ I thought sadly as I heard the bathroom door slam.

Slowly, I made my way toward her and my heart broke as I heard her sobbing in the bathroom. I knocked lightly and she hiccupped loudly on the other side. "Annabeth? Babe, can I please come in?"

More sobs answered me, followed by what sounded like her retching and I tried to push my way in, only to find the door was locked. Knocking harder, I yelled, "Annabeth, answer me, dammit!"

Several minutes passed and finally the lock popped and I was greeted by a mess of blonde curls, bloodshot eyes and a puffy face. I pulled her to me and she stiffened in my arms.

"I need you to talk to me. I need you to tell me what on earth is wrong with you!"

At that moment, she collapsed in my arms and I scooped her up and moved her to the bed. I tried to prop her up against the pillows but she remained limp in my arms, head on my shoulder as she tried to catch her breath between sobs.

"Baby, please, please talk to me. I can't help you if you won't talk to me."

"I can't do this Percy?"

"Can't do what?" I immediately questioned.

"Percy, it is my first . . . first Christmas . . ." she faded out and started crying harder on my shoulder.

Suddenly it dawned on me what was wrong and I hugged her tightly. "God baby, I am so, so sorry. I didn't even think! It's your first Christmas without your mother. How could I be such an idiot?"

Harder sobs racked her body and I tried to soothe her with gently hushing sounds and by rubbing her back but the grief she had completely overtook her.

"Percy," she hiccupped in my ear, "Percy, she is missing everything."

"I know baby," I whispered, leaving soft kisses near her ear and stroking her hair.

"She is going to miss out on us getting married one day and our children . . ." she wailed, trailing off as she suddenly pulled away from and ran back toward the bathroom.

I followed after her, holding back her curls as she tried desperately to calm herself to keep from throwing up once again.

"Bed," I whispered to her, as she finally fell back on her butt and into me. "I am going to go get you some dinner."

She nodded, slowly standing with my help and moved to the bed. I felt some of the tension leave her body as I placed a hand on her lower back and she almost caved to my touch.

"Are you hungry?" I asked timidly, praying I could use the moment to my advantage.

"Yeah, but nothing really heavy. I still feel like crap."

"Got it," I replied, leaving a kiss on her forehead and then heading back to the kitchen. I returned several minutes later with a bowl of chicken noodle soup, toast and a forest green envelope on the bed tray we very rarely used.

"Hey babe, sit up, I brought you some soup and toast and your next gift," I said with a small smile, hoping I could keep her calm.

"Another envelope," she whimpered, her eyes swirling with more tears.

"And one you will, love," I replied, moving around the bed so that I could snuggle in next to her.

She blinked quickly before picking up the spoon and taking a sip of the soup before a hand carefully moved to the envelope.

I kissed her temple and suddenly she exploded with movement, ripping the green paper across the crease and then splitting it wide open. "What on earth?" she asked as she flipped the envelope upside down and two tickets fell into on to the small table.

She scooped them up and read over the top one slowly, her eyes widening as she got to the bottom of the ticket. "The Cinderella Ball . . . really Percy?"

"Yup," I replied, popping the P and putting an arm around her, pulling her closer to me.

"I have never been to the Cinderella Ball and I have always wanted to go. How the hell did you score these?"

"I stalked the website and bought them the instant they went on sale. I didn't want you to miss out again."

She turned to face me, tears falling down her cheeks, "Thank you Percy," she whispered as she left a light kiss on my lips. I just hoped she remained that happy when she realized, what exactly was going on.

* * *

Hello again faithful readers!

I own absolutely nothing you recognize in this story. I do hope you are enjoying the story so far. Don't be afraid to leave a comment or two and thank you for all the faves!

Once again a massive shout out to 3 for betaing because lord knows I need the extra help! Love ya babe!

Now, as some of you may have noticed, there are some issues with the site and if I miss a day, I will double up but as of now I have found a way around it, thank you 3 for that little tip as well!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday break and I will be back with your next installment tomorrow!


	4. Day 3

**Day 3 – December 27** **th**

 ** _Percy_** _  
'Hey love, what time are you going to be home?'_

 _'Not now Percy. Busy.'_

 _'Call me when you aren't. Love you.'_

Not exactly how I was expecting that text session to go, and I wasn't happy about that she didn't answer me back but at least I knew she was busy because she didn't even read the last message.

I flopped back on the sofa and sighed. It was only four-thirty and usually she was home by six; usually, on my breaks I could find ways to entertain myself but today was killing me. I was bored out of my mind and I knew it was in anticipation of the gift I had planned for tonight. I tried several times to play a game on the Xbox, but it wasn't happening as my mind wandered and I kept checking my phone to see if she had read my last message.

Finally, I gave up on waiting for her and took to deep cleaning my apartment. It needed it anyway if the rest of this week was going to go as planned. Thalia would have my hide if she walked in here and found the place in this state.

I was startled some time later by the door slamming and I banged my head on the cabinet door that was currently open.

"Shit!"

"Perce, where are you?"

"Kitchen," I replied, rubbing my head and examining my hand moments later, making sure I wasn't bleeding everywhere. I looked up to see her walk up to the island, tears in her eyes (this was beginning to be a daily thing and I was less than impressed) as she dropped her purse and a box of papers on the island.

"I may lose my job," she said through a sniffle and I rushed toward her.

"What the hell?"

"I had Lacy's new book all ready and I don't know what happened. I went over it four times before I left," she screeched, putting a hand on her heart as I inched closer to her. "The layout was perfect, everything was set to go. We got the two-thousand pre-ordered copies in and there are four pages in the wrong placement and two others that were upside down. Percy, I don't know what the hell I am going to do! I worked my ass off for this job . . ." she trailed off, her breathing erratic.

"Who the hell would do something that like? I was there before you left for California. I know the layout was perfect. Who do I need to talk to for proof?"

She shook her head at me, the tears threatening to fall once more as I could see the dried salty rivers down her puffy red cheeks. "I have a meeting tomorrow with Mark," she said quietly, eyes avoiding me as she spoke, "I don't think it is going to go over well."

I pulled her in for a hug and she heaved a heavy sigh against me. "Do me a favor, drop off everything and go change. Comfortable clothes, and keep warm. You're going to need it."

"Percy, I am not in the mood for –"

"–no complaining," I interrupted, "you need out of this funk. Things will be fine. Mark must know that someone else did this. Now, please go change. Gloves and scarf as well little missy," I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest and putting my foot down.

It wasn't often that I could talk to her like this and get away with it but sometimes I would get lucky and she would begrudgingly do as I asked without question; tonight, wasn't going to be one of those nights and she in turn slammed her right foot into the floor.

"Perseus Jackson, I am _not_ in the mood to do anything tonight! Did you not hear me when I said I could possibly lose my job? I just want to sit at home and wallow for a little bit, is that too damn much to ask?"

Her eyes had gone from soft gray storm clouds to steely and cold, which was even more frightening with the tears that swirled within.

"I heard you. Remember, no complaining! Santa said so," I tried not to whine and failed miserably.

"Santa isn't real Percy," she spat back, acid laced in her voice.

"I told you, for the next twelve days he is, now dammit, get in the bedroom, change your clothes and do as I ask for once," I demanded.

She shrunk back under my voice and then her shoulders dropped as she marched off without saying another word. I hated being mean in her time of need, but I wasn't going to allow her to deter me from my gifts or my plan.

* * *

"Are you going to talk to me yet?" I asked, as she leaned her head on passenger window, a hand reaching over for mine. I gladly took the hand and pulled it to my lips, leaving a light kiss on top.

"Maybe later," a soft voice replied. I looked over to see a small smile on her lips as she closed her eyes.

I kept my thoughts to myself, allowing her to rest the remaining ten minutes to Central Park. Tonight, we were going to hit up our favorite little café, as I knew we hadn't been here in ages due to our schedules being insane but tonight she needed the extra dose of happiness that only The Perch could provide.

"Wake up sleepy head," I called to her, shutting off the engine and praying she would be in a better mood when she realized where we were.

A groan escaped her as she unwillingly stirred. She was far too cranky and far too sleepy here lately for my liking and I nudged her gently on the shoulder.

"Come on babe. I have an awesome surprise for you tonight."

"Sleep would have been an awesome surprise," she mumbled as she turned her head toward me and glared at me through slits. Suddenly her head snapped up and she blinked at me several times as a smile spread across her face. "Come on," she called happily, flying out of my Explorer before I had even pulled the keys from the ignition.

I jumped out of the vehicle and ran to catch up with her as she wandered down the path, lit by thousands of Christmas lights wrapped around every tree along the path.

"Can we eat out on the back patio?"

There was a twinkle in her eye that I hadn't seen since she got back from California and I gave her my infamous crooked smile.

"Of course. Part of the reason I asked you to bring your scarf," I replied, catching up to her completely and wrapping my arms around her waist. We walked on like this for several feet before she stopped abruptly causing me to slam into her back. "Oomph, I think your brake lights are out."

I was hoping for a laugh but instead she turned around immediately and placed a hand on my cheek.

"You know I love you right?"

Instantly, my brain was in overdrive. You only have these talks with your significant other when something is wrong, and I already knew that she was in a mood, so there was really no telling where this talk was going to go.

"I know that I have been difficult since I got home, and I don't mean to take that out on you at all Percy. I am just not in a place where I am ready to talk about the things Helen and I fought about."

I looked down in her gray orbs, the sparkle now lost once again. "Annabeth, I am not going to force you into telling me what happened. Yes, I am dying to know what happened, but I know you will tell me eventually. I know you love me and I hope you know that I love you more than anything. You are my world," I replied, leaning into her hand.

"Just give me some time Percy," she whispered softly.

Cupping her face in my hands, I leaned in and gently kissed her forehead, then nose and then lips before replying, "Whatever you need."

"I love you," she replied softly, pushing herself up on tiptoe to meet my lips once again.

 ** _Annabeth_**  
The sound of a little girl's giggle pulled me from my moment with Percy and I pulled away quickly, my cheeks burning in the process.

"They were kissing, Momma," she giggled again, turning to look us as her mother pulled her along the trail. "Do you still love Daddy like that?" The little voice asked, and I shrunk back behind Percy, suddenly embarrassed by the exchange.

Suddenly the little girl was scooped up as her mother whispered to her and then the wails started.

"I think we just ruined her evening," Percy replied, grabbing my hand and pulling me forward. "Let's eat. I am starved."

I leaned into his side and for the first time today a smile spread across my face. I wasn't going to let tomorrow ruin my night. I would worry about all of that in the morning.

As we made our way down the trail, the lights got brighter as the trees became denser around our favorite eatery. This time of year was always magical, whether it be from the thousands of twinkling lights or the little bit of snow lingering on the ground, you couldn't help but destress.

My stomach growled as we neared the entrance to The Perch and instinctively I dropped a hand down to my stomach.

"When was the last time you ate?"

"A cup of coffee this morning," I responded shyly.

"Annabeth, you have to quit skipping meals. You worry me when you do that, and you get really hangry and say a lot of things you don't really mean –"

"– don't start with me on that one," I whined as we passed through the doors and the amazing smell of home cooked food hit me, sending my stomach into another rumble as well as turning it slightly.

"See! You skip meals and you feel worse. You've been so off since you got back from your dad's. You never get sick and you are worrying me."

"I'm fine Perce. I just need to eat. Now, you said we could sit out on the patio, let's go," I practically cried, pulling his hand as we crossed the restaurant.

We sat at a table closest to one of the large outdoor heaters and I found myself almost regretting the decision until I looked around, the lights bouncing off the snow and Percy's ocean orbs. Percy sat down next to me and wrapped an arm around me, drowning me in his infinite warmth. It honestly didn't matter my mood, the man could always make me feel better, even if I was angry with him.

"May I take your order?"

I looked up to see a familiar face and smiled, "The usual Tammy."

"House salad with blue cheese and the honey chipotle baked chicken with classic veggies and a water coming up. And for you?" she asked, turning to Percy as he furrowed his brow, glancing over the menu.

"Chicken fingers with the fries, not the tots and a Coke."

"Got it. Anything else?"

"Actually, change the salad to the potato soup. It's too cold and can I get a small hot chocolate to go as well?" I wasn't exactly sure what made me change my mind. In the three years that we had been coming here, I had only changed my order up twice and that was because we were still new to the place and trying things out.

Percy threw an odd look at me and shrugged, "I don't want to hear it Seaweed Brain! You got the most childish thing on the menu and you're gonna give me strange looks?"

"Yes," he started, pulling me closer, "but I am still twelve at heart, so it's ok for me, but you on the other hand, my chia latte drinking, sophisticated woman, never order hot chocolate."

"It's cold out here Percy, and a hot chocolate sounds divine," I whined, leaning into him and closing my eyes. In all honesty, I could have just curled up with him right there. I wanted to forget about today and I most definitely wanted to forget about tomorrow and my upcoming meeting with my editor-in-chief.

Dinner was a nearly silent affair as we watched the snowflakes dance around us and melt as they came in contact with the warmth from the heaters around us. I had to force my food down, my stomach doing flips with each bite. Tomorrow was weighing on me and stressing me out.

I remained lost to reality as we left The Perch and I allowed Percy to guide me along the trail and after several hundred feet I suddenly realized that we were not headed back to the car.

"Percy," I stopped dead in my tracks, looking around confused, "where the heck are we going?"

"You'll see. Come on Wise Girl, keep me warm," he requested, holding an arm out, wrapping it around my waist and pulling me closer to him.

We walked for what felt like forever as I was now anticipating his next gift. The trees gave way to the green and in front of us was the giant outdoor skating rink.

"But Percy –"

"– please don't complain," he whined.

"I wasn't going to complain you dunderhead, well not fully anyway," I retorted, stopping to take in the skaters and lights in all their beautiful glory. It had been years since I had been here. In fact, the last time I was here I was eighteen and it was one of the last decent Christmases I got to celebrate with my mother before work really took over for her. "I was just going to say, we don't have our skates."

He didn't say a word, just flashed me that crooked smile that I loved more than anything and grabbed my hand, dragging me along behind him as he laughed.

"Percy . . . dammit Percy, slow down," I cried as he dragged me along behind him.

"Live a little Wise Girl, I have it all taken care of!"

Some form of a groan/laugh escaped me as I ran behind him, trying to keep up and not throw up in the process.

* * *

Pushing myself forward, I found an opening and forced myself into a spin. The feeling was dizzying and freeing all in one shot and a smile spread across my face.

"Maybe you missed your calling," he called out to me, forcing me stop on the spot. I wobbled on the spot and was steadied by his arms around me.

"I highly doubt that. Just because I can do a few tricks doesn't mean I am a skater by any means Perce."

He dropped his head and kissed my forehead, sending chills down my spine. "You never see yourself for the truly beautiful and amazing woman that you are. I wish you would."

Heat immediately filled my cheeks. I was used to the man always complimenting me but tonight there was more love and affection in the words than I had ever picked up on in our entire fifteen years of knowing each other.

Pulling a hand from his waist, I reached up to his cheek. He hadn't shaved in several days and I was cursing the fact that it was cold, and we were on the ice as I really needed some skin to skin contact with him. I moved my cheek toward his and he in turned adjusted to allow me to move closer. Big mistake as Percy's foot slipped, tangled up with skate and took us both to the ice.

"Owe," I cried while laughing, thanking god the only part of me that hit the ice was my left hip as Percy tried his hardest to protect me from slamming into the ice full force.

"You okay?" he whined through a laugh.

"Yeah. Just nailed my hip. I should still be able to walk tomorrow."

"Good," he replied leaving a kiss on my head. "I hope you enjoyed your present for day three. Now please get up before I become permanently stuck to the ice!"

I laughed again, cringing as I got up, and grimaced as I helped pull him from the ice. "Thank you, Percy," I let out in an exhausted huff.

"You're welcome Wise Girl," he whispered in my ear as he pulled my cheek back to his.

"I love you more than you will ever know," I whispered in return.

* * *

Hello again my lovely readers! Here we are trudging along through day 3 and I must say that after the first round of holiday fun, I am about dead to the world. Fun!

Thank you again to my lovely beta 3! By the way, she has a wonderful new story out and should be the top of my favorite list! So go read and leave her some love, I swear you won't regret it!

 **Falling clouds** : Thank you! Actually, Jasper came about from a bad Twilight joke between my beta ( 3) and I. Yeah we went there! LOL We both forgot that was their ship name. Oops!

 **3** : I swear I will touch on that whole issue with her mother. We haven't seen the last of Annabeth's meltdowns yet. Poor girl.

 **PJOIsDaBest** : Love your excitement! Hope you enjoyed this next part!

Has anyone figured out what Percy has up his sleeve? I've left little hints here and there but have you truly figured it out?

Hope you liked this little installment, I shall be back tomorrow with another!


	5. Day 4

**Day 4 – December 28** **th**

 ** _Annabeth_**  
Taking a sip of my coffee, I felt my nerves ease, but only slightly. I was sick to my stomach. My meeting was in ten minutes and my hip ached from last night's fall which caused me to run a little late this morning. I wanted more time to prepare and I wasn't going to get it.

I hobbled into my office and tried to straighten myself up, but I wasn't even afforded that as my intercom buzzed on my desk.

"Shit," I cried, scrambling to my desk.

"Ms. Chase, Mr. Sanderson would like to see you now."

"Thank you, Piper," I responded back in a nervous, tight voice.

"You're welcome," the girl replied, her voice far too perky for my mood.

I let go of the intercom and stood up wishing I was more prepared for the meeting that was about to ensue, and I tried to choke back the bile that was rising in the back of my throat. I stepped out of my office and into the hallway, turning left and making my way toward the elevator.

"You've got this Chase," I choked back, tears threatening to pour down my face once again.

The elevator lurched, and a hand immediately went to my mouth. The door finally opened, and I made a beeline toward the women's restroom.

"Ms. Chase, glad to see you," Mr. Sanderson called as I ran right past him.

As I sat on the floor in the restroom, trying desperately not to cry, I found myself suddenly retching violently. _'Calm down Annabeth! Quit letting your damn nerves get to you!'_

Several minutes later I was at the sink, rinsing my mouth and trying to calm myself. I needed Percy. I needed Percy and our bed, no my bed. We don't exactly have a bed together and that was bothering me again, Helen's words running through my brain once again. _'Knock it off Annabeth! You don't have time for this crap right now!'_

I shook my head. Bed and Percy were not an option right now, and neither was discussing my feelings with him about the things Helen told me. I would get there eventually but right now I needed to get my head back into a place where I could save my job.

After several minutes of deep breathing and popping several breath mints, I finally made my way back toward Mr. Sanderson's office.

I braced myself as I walked up to the open door and knocked lightly, causing him to jump up from his desk to greet me.

"Are you okay, Annabeth?" His voice was full of concern and a tiny part of me was ready to punch him as I knew he was about to fire me and here he was leading me on with his fake concern.

"I am fine, thank you Mr. Sanderson," I retorted, trying not to sound like the utter bitch I felt like.

"Annabeth, knock off the formalities please and just have a seat," he replied kindly, motioning to the chair in front of his desk.

"Sorry Mark," I practically whispered to the man who had been my boss for the last six years. "I am just a bit nervous over this whole thing. I honestly don't know what happened and I can't explain it either," I began to whine.

"What exactly do you think you are in this meeting for Annabeth?" Mark asked as he quickly tried to take his seat and look professional.

"Well," I started, pausing and stuttering over the simple word. "I . . . I . . . you yelled at me yesterday! You said that you were highly upset in the way I conducted myself in not fessing up to the mishap with Lacy's book!"

"Oh crap, did I say that?"

"Yes," I whined once again, throwing a hand back over my mouth. My nerves were getting the better of me again and the last thing I wanted was to run out of there or worse, vomit on his floor.

"Look Annabeth, I am sorry. I was just a little mad that we had to eat the cost on two-thousand books. We aren't a huge company and we can't afford that many mistakes. I am sorry that I took that out on you."

My hand remained in its place as he spoke, the bile still burning the back of my throat.

"You, naturally, were the last person to oversee the layout. I did, however, get to the bottom of the issue. When the layout went to press, it was dropped, you were already gone and the idiot who dropped it just shoved it back together the best he could. Employee fired, problem solved," he said with the wave of his hand.

Slowly, I dropped my hand, my nerves calming ever so slightly. "So . . . that's it. You worried me with this meeting all night when you could have just called me?"

He leaned back in his chair and shrugged. "Sorry. But I had other reasons for this meeting this morning as well. Actually, I was prepared to demote you –"

"– are you freaking kidding me?" I demanded, leaning forward to yell at my boss. "After all of the work I have put in and you want to demote me over one mistake that wasn't even _my_ mistake!" Suddenly the nerves were gone but the feeling of throwing up everywhere lingered.

"Let me finish please! Damn girl, are you sure you are alright? I have seen you moody before, but this takes the cake. Everything okay with you and Percy?"

I waited for the nausea to subside before speaking again, rolling my eyes and leaning back in the chair. "Everything is just peachy between us. Why is that everyone's first go to when something is wrong?"

"Because it is the obvious choice. Though you did just go see your dad and step-mother, so I supposed that could be an issue as well."

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner," I deadpanned, closing my eyes and rubbing my temples.

"Well, let's fix that bad attitude, shall we?" He waited for my response and all he got from me was an eye roll. "So, as you know, your Senior Managing Editor, Tom, left us for bigger and better things." We both let out an exasperated sigh under our breath and Mark droned on more. "I want you to take over."

I found myself choking on the breath of air I just took and sat up in the chair, suddenly more alert and the nausea stronger than before. "Excuse me, but what?"

"Annabeth, you have worked your butt off for this company. Every advancement was because you deserved it and you deserve this one as well. No one else is as qualified for this position as you are. It is only right that I offer you the position."

"I . . . I . . . I don't know what to say," I mumbled to the man.

"Say thank you and that you will take the job because I really don't want to give it to anyone else."

"Thank you and of course I want the position," I exploded before jumping up from the chair and running down the hall to the restroom again.

"Katie," I heard Mark call behind me, "get the paperwork for Ms. Chase ready and let Piper know to hold all of her calls. She will be up here until at least lunch."

 ** _Percy_**  
"Hey Piper, is Annabeth around? She hasn't answered any of my calls this morning."

"Hi Percy," the younger woman responded back cheerfully, "she has been up in Mr. Sanderson's office since she got here. I was asked to hold all of her calls until she gets back."

"That doesn't sound very encouraging," I replied, mostly to myself but Piper nodded in agreement.

"After yesterday, probably not. I mean Mark yelled at her. Like full out lost his mind on all of us, but especially her. I don't know how she didn't end up crying on the spot. I was, and I didn't even have anything to do with the screw up!"

"Not helping Pipes," I responded dryly, looking down toward her empty office, "do you mind if I go down for a bit? I have something I wanted to give her, but this might actually work out better if I am not there to be seen."

"I am not sure what you are rambling on about but sure go ahead," she replied, waving a hand in the air and going back to the book she was reading.

"You know what is going on, Piper! But stay clueless, she has less of a chance of figuring out what is going on, on the fifth with you not even being able to remember."

She glanced up at me from over the top of her book, her kaleidoscope colored eyes wild in the moment. "Oh yeah, that," she responded with a wicked grin. "Your secret is safe with me!"

"No doubt," I retorted, with a grin on my face as I quickly moved toward Annabeth's office.

I closed the door behind me and sighed as I leaned back into the heavy wood. The office was pristine. Not an item out of place and if I sat down in the chair for a little bit, she would know, despite my best efforts in making it look like I had never been here.

Dropping my bag on the chair across from her desk, I found myself overcome with emotions as I pulled out a twelve by twelve leather bound book. Part of me wanted to run to her and tell her everything I had planned for her. I wanted her to know in just a few days' time she would be my wife and another part of me was struggling to remain on the spot. I couldn't mess up everything I had set up, not to mention my mother would kill me. We spent far too much time planning.

I carefully set the book on her desk and flipped it open, smiling at the first image of us with our friends from camp. These were friends we still had today, more family than anything and some were actually blood related. I tried not to claim a few of them but I loved the losers anyway.

Annabeth had started this book, years ago. Starting from when we first met, and she got all the way through our senior year in high school before she set the book aside and we were too busy making our way in the real world.

I found the book when we were cleaning her apartment; looking for special mementos and photos of her mother just after she passed. I took the book and began filling in the gaps. Chances are this book will make her cry but at least it would be happy tears and not the moody, overly emotional tears she had been spewing since she got back from her father's.

I glanced down at my watch – twelve-fifteen – I needed to get moving. Silena was expecting me across town to help me get Annabeth's dress and tiara. She argued with me she needed a veil, but I argued back that I didn't want her beauty hidden under a sea of hazy fabric. Needless to say, I won that argument.

I moved quietly through the building, so quietly in fact that Piper didn't even hear me walk past her desk and get into the already opened elevator car. An easy escape.

* * *

I was lost in the battle on the Xbox when the door to the apartment flung open and slammed into the wall, causing me to fall off the sofa.

"Hey guys, I gotta go, Annabeth is home." There was a chorus of damns and goodbyes as I ripped off the headset, not really caring what the group had to say at that moment.

"Percy!"

Her voice echoed in the small foyer and I cringed. _'What was that tone: anger, excitement? Oh shit, what am I in for?'_

"Here babe, I'm coming, what's up?" I called to her, tripping over my own two feet and catching myself hard on the wall as I ran to her.

I was once again thrown off balance as she threw herself into my arms.

"Where did you find it?" she cried in my ear loudly, making my eardrum ring at the sound.

"Find what?" I questioned, backing my face away from hers only to have her smash her lips into mine. After several beats, I caved into her needs and then pulled away asking, "Now tell me, what did I find?"

"The book Seaweed Brian! Where the hell did you find the book and how long have you been working on it?" She pushed away from me, rushing to her bag and pulled out the large leather scrapbook I left on her desk at lunch.

"I found it just after your mother passed. When we were looking for photos and things for the funeral," I responded quietly, knowing full well this topic could set her off at any moment.

"It was in my closet. Buried with the rest of the things I had always planned to add to it . . ." she trailed off, lost in thought before looking in my eyes and speaking again, ". . . come on Perce, follow me."

I didn't hesitate and did as she asked, following her through the apartment and to her room. She chunked the book on the bed and smiled up at me. "Flip through that, there is something in there you need to look at while I change."

My brow furrowed as she continued to smile at me.

"Just look, will you? I'll be back in just a minute."

I hopped onto the bed as she disappeared into the walk-in closet and picked up the beast of a book. "How did your meeting with Mark go?" I asked, flipping through the pages to the end of the book, stopping on a photo of her holding her name plaque. 'Annabeth Chase – Senior Managing Editor,' I glanced over the image, not thinking too much of it until I realized she was wearing the same thing she walked into the apartment in.

"Ummmm, Annabeth," I called, confusion crossing my face as I pulled the image from the book and moved it closer to my face. "Do you want to explain this?"

"What's to explain?" She asked happily, bounding from the closet to the bed and landing in my lap.

"Well, for starters you can tell me what the hell happened today?" I pushed the loose curls from her face and for the first time since she got back she was smiling; a genuine smile that lit up the entire room.

"Mark promoted me," she exclaimed, pressing her lips to mine once again.

I returned the gesture and then pulled away from her, "Senior Managing Editor, I am so proud of you babe! You are so close to taking over the world!"

"Well the office at least," she replied with a laugh. "Now, tomorrow I get to finish my contract and Saturday I get to take over Tom's office. Now, let's get down to what this is really about, when on earth did you leave this in my office?" she asked quietly, rolling out of my lap and picking up the scrapbook, placing it between the two of us.

"Lunch, I was hoping to cheer you up with this and lunch, but you were still in Mark's office."

"So, you just took off?"

"I didn't want to," I replied sadly, "but I had some other errands to run that were a bit time sensitive, so I left the book and ran. Don't hate me!"

"I don't hate you Percy," she said quietly, flipping pages and stopping on a photo near the front of the book, "do you remember this day?"

I looked down at the picture, it was our first year at camp together and I replied, "Of course I do. The most amazing day of my life happened that year."

She looked up at me, her curls flying wildly as she shook her head confused.

"I met you and because of that we had the most awkward and amazing friendship which turned you into my girlfriend and I wouldn't have anyone else."

Her face fell for a moment and she plastered on her fake smile. I knew what she wanted from me and for a moment I faltered, but the moment was fleeting as I shoved down the urge to tell all my plans back down. ' _Don't cave Percy, you got this!_ '

"The scrapbook is amazing Percy. We need to keep it out, so we can continue to add to it, don't you think?" She pulled away from me, flipping pages and smiling at the various memories.

"Absolutely," I replied, leaving a kiss on her temple.

* * *

Hello again!

So once again, thank you for the likes and faves but guys, don't be afraid to say anything!

Thank you **3** for being my beta. Girl you keep me sane and the writing on track. Without that bridge would have died! And yes, more mommy issues. Kinda hard to avoid with certain events coming up. Guys, don't forget to check out her new fic!

So enjoy and more craziness to come!


	6. Day 5

**Day 5 – December 29th**

 ** _Percy_**  
"Nope . . . no . . . oh definitely not," I cried out, passing yet another row of adorable but too small and yappy dogs. I should have brought Annabeth to help in this endeavor but that would have totally ruined the surprise of me getting her a puppy. Not to mention it would throw her into a tailspin over pet deposits and having no yard and oh dear god I could hear her voice in my head nagging me about needing an actual house with a yard for the dog she so badly wanted.

I released a heavy sigh and continued. Paws for a Cause was usually one of our favorite days of the year but now that I was A. actually looking for a lifelong friend and B. doing this on my own, I was a bit overwhelmed. There were dogs of every breed all over the park and every last one of them in need of a home.

Annabeth would have taken them all home if we lived on a farm with about a hundred acres but currently we were trapped in the inner city concrete jungle and she felt it wasn't fair to any animal but a cat to be trapped in a tiny apartment. This was an issue I would remedy shortly, but she didn't know that yet.

A groan escaped me as I changed directions, the dogs only getting smaller – which I had no clue was possible! What on earth are you supposed to do with a dog that fits inside a teacup? I'd be afraid that I would kill it in the couch cushions when I sat down – until I found a row of what looked like decent medium sized dogs. Maybe, just maybe I would find what I was looking for down this row.

I walked slowly, looking at every breed, checking the magical Google gods for any information I could find, and I would just shake my head and move on. None of these animals were what we were looking for and I was getting discouraged. It was already three-thirty and Annabeth would get home before me if I didn't find a friend soon.

My stomach rumbled, forcing me to stop at a hot dog stand which I found a little ironic in the moment. Exhausted, I dropped down on a bench and I tore into my late lunch. I moved on to my second hot dog and dropped my hand to the bench for a moment so that I could scan the area in hopes of finding my way, only to have my hot dog stolen straight out of the wrapper by a beast of a silvery gray puppy.

"Hey! That was mine," I called out, taking off after the massive pup. The dog was teasing me; hot dog still in its mouth, it would run twenty feet ahead of me, stop, turn around and drop its head to the ground with its back end up, tail wagging, and as I would get just feet from it, it would take off once again.

This chase went on for at least ten minutes before we came to a stop almost halfway across the park. The crazy dog still had half my hot dog hanging out of its mouth and I could swear it was laughing at me.

"Alright you mangy mutt, I want my hot dog back!"

The dog bounced around me more and a laugh followed from behind me. "What, are you going to finish what she didn't, cos that would be kinda gross?"

I whipped around to find a little girl who couldn't have been more than eight years old with a smirk across her face and tight, wild blonde ringlets flying in the cold breeze.

"Yeah, well, that was my lunch," I spat back, crossing my arms over my chest, trying to remain stern with her and I was failing miserably.

She stared me down, her amber eyes boring into my green ones and I cracked. "Your dog is terrible!"

"No, she is not. She is actually quite well behaved, just a little . . . clumsy," she retorted, watching the dog with a smile on her face which quickly fell as the dog took off at a run and then tripped over her own front paws and went face first into the frost covered grass. She smacked her forehead with the palm of a hand and then took off after the dog, yelling for her mother as she went.

"Mom! Mom, I found her," she called to a woman about a hundred yards away and for some reason I found myself following. "I swear, I don't know how she got out but thankfully she didn't go too terribly far."

"No kidding. I would hate for her to go to someone who would abuse her. She's been through enough," her mother responded, scooping up the massive pup and placing her back in the kennel with seven other puppies that were half her size.

"I found her with him," the girl replied, throwing a thumb out toward me.

"Thank you for bringing her back."

"Um, yeah . . . sure, no problem. So, are they part of the adoption today?" I asked tentatively.

"Yes. All eight of them."

"No, Mom! No," the girl cried out suddenly and I stepped back, afraid she may come at me swinging.

"Emily, we can't keep them, baby. Your father said no and that is that," the woman replied quietly.

Trying to diffuse the situation, I asked, "So, what is the story on these guys?"

"They were dumped on our ranch. Their mother was in pretty bad shape and so were two other pups. We did everything we could to save them, but they were just too far gone. We lost momma and the pups and were left with these eight crazies. The mother was a Silver Labrador and the father, well the vet wasn't too sure. He said he thinks possibly a Great Dane based on the biggest one, but she could just be a fluke too. We couldn't really afford to DNA test them, so this is as good as it gets."

"So . . . can I go in, see which one likes me best?"

"Definitely," she replied sweetly, moving over to her daughter and walking several feet away with her.

"So, which one of you terrors is going home with me today?" I asked the dogs as I carefully climbed over the play yard fencing.

My legs were immediately covered by gray bouncing little fluff balls and I did the only thing I could think of, which was sit down. There were paws everywhere as I was trampled by tiny feet, all fighting for my attention. After about ten minutes I noticed that the larger of the pups wanted my attention, but she wouldn't come to me as her siblings kept her on the outer edge of the group.

"I want you," I demanded to the larger pup, pointing at her which sent her into a flurry of hops around her siblings.

I stood up and quickly scooped up the giant puppy, only to be met with a ton of puppy kisses.

"No, Mom! He chose her. He chose Mrs. O'Leary! The only one I wanted out the bunch and he chose her," the girl screamed at me, or her mother, I wasn't quite sure at the moment as she was giving me a death glare.

"Ignore her. She's known since they were dumped off that we couldn't keep them. Any of them, right Emily?" Her mother shot back at her. "She is the sweetest one in the bunch, just the clumsiest and I am sure that is due to her size. She would make an amazing friend. If you want to adopt her, just follow me, I have all of the paperwork over here. Now, you do have adequate space for her?"

"Well for two days she will be in an apartment with my girlfriend and I and then on the first I have a big surprise for her . . . the keys to our first home."

The woman smiled up at me. "Woah, big step there and you're brave to take on a dog along with everything else."

I returned her smile, readjusted the puppy in my arms and looked down at the stack of paperwork. "We can handle this. Now, is her name really Mrs. O'Leary?"

"Unfortunately. My four-year-old named her and well, it just kind of stuck. She knows that name and responds well to it. I am not sure that changing it would be a good idea."

I looked down at the silvery fluff ball in my arms which greeted me with a tongue across my face. "Mrs. O'Leary, it is then.

* * *

The door to the apartment opened and Mrs. O'Leary lifted her head up off my lap. I grabbed on to her for a moment, waiting for Annabeth's voice. Suddenly my heart pounded in my chest and I was pretty sure I just made the biggest mistake of my life.

"Percy, are you here?"

I looked down at Mrs. O'Leary. "Go get her girl," I gulped quietly.

"Percy," she called again, and Mrs. O'Leary leapt off my lap, making a beeline toward Annabeth's voice. I prayed this would go over as well as I imagined in my mind but the crash in the foyer followed by, "What the hell? Shit! Perseus Jackson, get your ass in here!"

 _'Ah hell, this is not what I planned on at all!'_

"Coming," I called, tripping over my own two feet as I tried to run to her.

"Shit, no! Down puppy, down," she cried pointing a finger at Mrs. O'Leary, and trying to get her to obey. She looked up to find me wide-eyed, deer-in-the-headlights kind of look and I cringed under her glare. "Please tell me this isn't day five's gift?"

"Well . . . yeah," I whined, snapping my fingers at Mrs. O'Leary and she immediately sat down, still trying to nip at Annabeth's dropped hand to get her attention.

"A puppy, Percy? Really?"

"Hey, you agreed there would be no complaining and you would accept whatever I gave you!"

"But it's a puppy, Percy! Neither of our apartments are big enough for this soon to be beast of a dog and oh my god, Aphrodite is going to lose her damn mind! Percy the pet deposit –"

"– has been taken care of. Aphrodite knows and has waived the fee. She knows you Annabeth and she knows you aren't going to let anything happen to this apartment. I already spoke with Reyna and while she yelled at me in Spanish for a little bit, she eventually broke and told me everything was copacetic after Mrs. O'Leary gave her lots of puppy loving."

"Mrs. O'Leary?"

"Yeah, the family I adopted her from had already named her and she knows it and I don't have the heart to change it," I defended, bending down and calling her to me with the snap of my fingers.

"Okay, so terrible name but dammit Percy, look at her! She's enormous for a puppy and she can't even run without crashing into things, and we don't have the room for her," she cried at me, "look around, there isn't exactly enough room for the pair of us here and you brought home a dog."

"You have been wanting a dog for ages, Beth. You will love her, just give her a chance. She is pretty chill until someone comes knocking on the door anyway."

She stood still for several moments, glaring down at me and the pup before she finally caved. She crouched down and immediately started loving on Mrs. O'Leary's ears to which the dog responded by dropping her head on her knees and closing her eyes.

"Oh, you are sweet," she responded quietly, trying not to show me that she was in love with the beast. "You really do have a terrible name though. Are you sure we can't do anything about?"

I looked up to meet her stormy eyes and snapped my fingers again, "Mrs. O'Leary, go lay down."

She left a kiss on Annabeth's hand and trotted off to the living room, jumped up on the sofa and crashed with her head down on the arm of the sofa.

"You have got to be kidding me?"

"No, she is a quick learner, just clumsy as all get out," I replied with a sheepish laugh.

She stood, pulling me with her, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, are there more surprises like this one that are going to make my blood pressure soar, or have we hit the height of the fun?"

"Oh please, you know you love her," I responded.

"You are _so_ lucky I love you," she deadpanned.

"Psh, I am the best you have ever had," I shot back as she walked toward the living room.

"Yeah, yeah. Mrs. O'Leary, come here," she snapped at the pup and she immediately jumped up and fell into Annabeth's lap. "She's a better cuddlier than you are Perce. You better get back over here and claim your crown."

I couldn't help but smile as I plopped down next to her, pulling her closer, leaving kisses on her temple as Mrs. O'Leary snored in our laps.

* * *

Thank you **3** for being my beta! If you get a chance really check out her newest story...I absolutely adore it!

Now, on to those comments I missed last night!

 **Guest** : Your update is here and another shall follow shortly. I am slacking today a little bit. I am in that in between stage of Christmas and New Year's where I haven't a clue what the day or time is.

 **Athenachild101** : Thanks for the fave! I am not going to give away any secrets there and I will clear up the Helen issue here shortly! I swear but Helen is just jealous of the girl. She's very bitter over the fact that Frederick had a life before her and takes it out on our girl sadly. It's mostly just a culmination of everything that fuels Helen's fire, if that makes sense.

 **Falling clouds** : Thanks! More cuteness to come, I swear!

 **3** : LOL issues for everyone! I wanted to do a little more with the scrapbook, but eh, pressed for time but you know that already. Maybe I will bring it back at the end of the story...ooo new idea! LOL I need to stop, tell me to stop!

 **imagination-running** : Again...not giving anything away! Hehehe Glad you are enjoying the story!

So I think I caught everyone there. Next update is hopefully coming along tonight, that or you are getting 2 on NYE!


	7. Day 6

**Day 6 – December 30** **th**

 ** _Annabeth_**  
The sun shone through the windows and I wished that Percy would remember to keep the curtains closed until I got up, but for some reason he insisted on being annoying in the mornings.

I tried to stretch but found my feet heavily weighted down. A groan escaped me and the heavy body laying on me shifted. Moments later I was tackled by the heavy body, leaving sloppy kisses all over my cheeks and hands as I tried to shield myself.

"Stop, no, Mrs. O'Leary!" I threw my arms around the mutt's neck and tackled her down to the bed, her tail still trashing as she tried to continue with her onslaught of puppy kisses. "You are too strong for your own good!"

The pup broke free and bounded around the bed, trying to find some way to play with me and I couldn't help but laugh until tears poured out of my eyes when she started spinning in circles and fell off the bed, onto her hefty butt and then flat on her back. The poor thing was so stunned at first that she just laid there for several minutes before getting up and putting her head down and trying to hide under the bed.

"Oh, you poor sweet thing, you're okay," I cooed, trying to get her to come back out from hiding and wasn't having much luck. I hopped up off the bed and tried to pull her out and scoop her up but the animal was stronger than I realized.

"Fine, stay there stubborn beast!"

She peeked her head out from under the bed and gave me that lopsided head tilt that Percy had a tendency to give me when he was confused and I face palmed.

"Not even with the man for twenty-four hours and already he's rubbed off on you! Lord help us. Come on girl, let's go get breakfast."

I made my way to the kitchen, Mrs. O'Leary hot on my heels. Maybe having a puppy in the apartment wouldn't be such a bad thing for a while. I could sure use the company when Percy wasn't here and it gave me a legitimate excuse to have leave parties and what-nots early when I wasn't having much fun.

I made my way to the coffee pot, stopping suddenly as a bright orange note caught my attention, which in turn caused Mrs. O'Leary to slam into the back of my legs. "I know, I know, my brake lights were out!"

I bent to scratch the dog behind the ears while yanking the note from the top of the coffee pot and sighed heavily.

'Babe, I will be back around 11. Don't head to the office without me! Love ya!'

"Great, can I trust you for just thirty minutes so I can shower and change?" Mrs. O'Leary looked at me like I was insane and I ignored her, making a cup of coffee. I was insane, I was talking to a dog who couldn't even answer me back. "Come on girl, I don't trust you out here alone yet."

I led the poor mutt back to the bedroom and called her up onto the bed, "Don't make me regret this."

* * *

"Percy, you are so going to get me in trouble," I whispered as we ran through the quiet halls of my office building, the jingling of her tags making the only noise around us. "Pick her up!"

"Psh, Beth, we're fine. She has been absolutely amazing and has only fallen over once since I put the harness on her!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him as a smile spread across my face. He had a point.

"We are here to move your stuff to your new office. Do you really think that Mark is going to be here on a Saturday and that he is going to demote you for having your new puppy with you?"

"Well . . . no." I had to think this over. I honestly didn't think I would ever be walking into the office building with a dog either so this was never an issue that I had to analyze in my mind either. I mean, with Percy, anything was possible.

We made it to my office and I was surprised to find everything almost packed away in boxes and a cart already in the middle of the room.

"Is this what you were up to this morning?" My head whipped around, focusing on Percy as he directed Mrs. O'Leary to sit in an empty corner of the room.

"Maybe," he replied with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Why?" I asked, moving to my desk, pulling a few things out of the drawer and dropping them on top.

"So we can make this process go a little faster. I want the afternoon to just hang with you and the crazy dog over there."

"You're too sweet, Perce, but that was the plan no matter what time we finished here," I laughed as he bounded over and pulled me into a hug.

We worked silently for the next hour, packing up the last of my personal objects, books and knickknacks onto the cart dolly. I plopped Mrs. O'Leary down on the cart and led the way to the elevator as Percy pushed the cart behind me.

Some part of me felt a slight freeing sensation as I said goodbye to the corner office with no natural light. I was a sucker for windows, and the sunshine warming a room and I wasn't afforded that in my old position, though I managed.

"Hey, babe, do you get to take Piper with you?"

I turned in the elevator, arms across my chest and glared at the man, "What kind of question is that? Of course I get to take Piper with me!"

He raised his hands and shrugged his shoulders at me, "I was just checking. The last thing we need is Jason whining about how his girlfriend got left behind and what-not."

I chuckled and turned back toward the door, pressing the button for the floor above us. The car lurched upward and I was thrown off balance, my stomach nearly betraying me.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just a little unprepared for that lurch upward."

"You got this!"

I turned to lean over the cart to give the man a kiss but the doors opened and Mrs. O'Leary sprang into action and took off down the hall.

"Perce, go get your dog before she gets us kicked out of here," I hissed, hiding a laugh and the nausea that was threatening to take over.

He ran by me, leaving a peck on my cheek, and calling after the crazy mutt he brought home. A sigh escaped me – partially exhausted and partially thrilled with the way things were going right now – as I pulled the cart from the elevator toward my new office.

I crossed the threshold to find that Percy had been rather busy this morning. Not only had he mostly packed up my old office, but he had removed all of Tom's furniture and had all of my new things put together and placed in the middle of the room so that I could decide on the exact layout. Bless that man.

"So, what do you think?"

"I think you are pretty freaking amazing right now, that is what I think."

"Awe, I love you too, babe. Now, let's get this finished, Mrs. O'Leary is going to need a run soon if you know what I mean!"

Once again, we worked in near silence, only speaking when he would ask where an item belonged. We worked effortlessly together and I could feel myself getting emotional as the last few pieces went into their place.

An arm dropped across my shoulder as I stood back and took in the room before us. "Perfect," I couldn't help but whisper.

"Not yet," he replied, leaving a kiss on the side of my mouth before leaving the room.

The warmth his arm left me with was immediately gone and a frown crossed my face until he walked back in carrying what looked like a large piece of wall art.

"I had this made just for you. Granted, I didn't know you were getting promoted, that just happened to work in my favor."

Honestly, I was afraid of the image on the other side seeing as how Percy's favorite piece of art was the infamous dogs playing poker image and that just wasn't my cup of tea. This could be his one downfall in gifts.

I sucked in a deep breath and waited as he moved to the one empty spot on the wall between my two windows.

"Okay, close your eyes and don't peek."

"Nope," I said, popping the P. "Not happening."

"No complaining, remember?"

"Ugh. Fine."

I closed my eyes and tried desperately not to peek. There was the brief sound of hammering and a few grunts as I could tell Percy was having issues getting the canvas on the wall how he wanted it.

"Do you need some help?"

"No! Your eyes better be closed too!"

"They are Seaweed Brain! But if you don't hurry, I am just going to come over there and do this for you!"

"There! Now, you may open your eyes."

My eyes popped open to find an off-white canvas perched happily in its new home. The breath was knocked out of me for a moment and a hand went to my mouth as tears sprang to my eyes.

"How did you . . ." I trailed off, moving slowly toward him and the canvas.

He shrugged his shoulders at me and my eyes went back to the painting. In the middle were twenty-eight little hand prints that formed a massive heart. Each hand was a different color and each color bled into the next.

"Do you like it?"

"I . . . I . . ." I couldn't get the words out and nodded my head yes at him. Finally, they came, "I absolutely love it Percy! How on earth did you manage this?"

"I tracked down the first class to get your very first published book, and being a teacher helped too," he replied with a sheepish grin and a wink.

"It is the perfect piece. You never cease to amaze me."

"Why do people always tell me that?"

I broke into a laugh before pulling him to me. "Because it's true." I tried to kiss him but was rudely interrupted by a whining creature that was now clawing at my legs. "Fine, fine, we will go now! You owe me a kiss, Mr. Jackson."

* * *

 **AN** \- Sorry, sorry, sorry! More is coming, I promise. Sometimes it really sucks being an adult.

Thank you once again to **3** for being my amazing beta. Don't forget to check out her new story!


	8. Day 7

**Day 7 – December 31** **st**

 ** _Annabeth  
_** The day wore on and as it did so, my mind spiraled around, driving me insane. Mrs. O'Leary kept me company as I tried desperately to keep my emotions in check. Percy had been fairly good at keeping me distracted and I knew I needed the distraction, but here in my apartment alone, it was hard to find something to keep my mind busy. I wasn't into video games like Percy and I didn't have a single book in the apartment that was going to keep my attention right now.

"So, it's just us, girl. Momma is on the verge of losing her mind. What do we do since your daddy won't be home for another couple of hours?"

Mrs. O'Leary tilted her head at me before dropping it on my lap and licking my hands. I patted my chest and the beast slow crawled up me, pushing hard on my gut on her way up which sent a little chill up my spine but it subsided quickly as she settled across me and licked my cheek.

"Oh, why do you have to be so damn sweet?"

The pup nuzzled in closer causing me to rest my head against hers. I looked around the apartment, the random photo of me with Mom, standing out here and there.

"I'm not going to cry over her."

Mrs. O'Leary looked up at me and I could see the sadness in her eyes, as if she understood every last bit of my pain. I wouldn't doubt it if she did but that sad look was all it took to send me over the edge.

I needed my mother. I needed to talk to her and I really needed her after the fight with Helen. My father and my brothers were supposed to be here today and because my step-mother is such an evil witch, they weren't coming. My heart hurt and Percy was out at his usual 'boys day out' paintball party. I couldn't just call him to come home. I could and of course he would, but I wouldn't do that to him. He looked forward to this one day every year.

Usually, us girls would hit a fancy restaurant in the city and then catch a movie but Thalia bailed this year due to having Jasper and I just couldn't muster the energy to get out of bed.

My mother and I may not have always had the best relationship but we had traditions. We had things we did together every year and Christmas and New Years were when we made some of our better memories.

I was having a hard time and everyone around me knew it and yet no one would come straight forward and mention her. I had been horrible in not bringing her up. It hurt too much, but here I was nearing a nervous breakdown and Mrs. O'Leary could sense it. She knew something wasn't right as she nuzzled into me even more, whining as I tried not to sob all over her silvery coat.

All hope was lost as a tear broke free and I scooped up the beast, making a beeline for the bedroom. Mrs. O'Leary didn't leave my side as memories flooded me and as I was racked by sob after sob. There was so much I needed to tell my mother and I would never be able to now. She needed to know the secret I accidentally confided in Helen as she was yelling at me about my living situation with Percy and then she needed to know how she reacted to said secret. I didn't have anyone to confide in but Mrs. O'Leary and in my pain, I poured all of my anger and sadness out on her and like a good best friend, she sat there with me, listening.

* * *

 ** _Percy  
_** "Annabeth, are you here, babe? We have to get ready, the party starts in about an hour and Mom is waiting on us!"

I pretty much crashed into the apartment, knowing if we weren't ready in about fifteen minutes, we were going to be really late. "Beth, answer me!"

There was silence in the apartment and I sighed heavily. She was asleep again. She had to be, this woman of mine who ran on adrenaline and caffeine was sleeping far too much and I was doing everything I could to keep her from getting sick and yet it seemed like it wasn't helping in the slightest.

I made my way toward the bedroom, the box with her next gift in my hands only to find myself dropping it on the floor as I heard her sobbing into Mrs. O'Leary's neck.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" I asked, scooping her up into my arms, leaving the poor pup confused as to what was going on.

"I can't Percy!"

"Can't what?" I tried to wipe the tears from her face but she refused to pull her face from my chest. "I can't help if I don't know what is wrong."

She huffed and puffed even more, trying desperately to gain some sort of self-control over herself but it just wasn't happening. All I could do was stroke her curls as she tensed, launching herself out of my lap and toward the bathroom.

 _'Ugh, here we go again.'_

It took me twenty minutes to calm her down and get her back in bed, which sent her into another upset flurry of tears and hugs to Mrs. O'Leary, who seemed to understand that Annabeth needed love right now.

"I can't go to the party, Percy. Please go. We have never missed one . . ." she finally said, pulling her face out of Mrs. O'Leary's neck once again.

"We don't have to go."

"You say that so easily, but I know you want to go," she almost wailed into the dog.

"No, I want to be where you are Annabeth. If you want to stay here, we will stay here. The only thing I ask is that you tell me why you are having this massive meltdown."

She sighed and hiccupped for several minutes before looking up at me over the pup's neck. "I can't do it. I can't go to that party and see all of those people and take the constant pity look. It's hard enough waking up every morning and thinking, oh, I need to call Mom, and then remembering that she's not here."

She dropped a hand back down to her stomach and I leaned over the bed grabbing the trashcan to hand to her. She shook her head and pushed the can away.

"It's not fair, Percy. It's not fair that seventeen-year-old girl got to live even though she was the one that caused the wreck. She was the one texting and ran the red light and slammed into Mom's car. It's not fair that she gets to spend the holidays with her family and mine has been ripped apart even more!"

She was breathing heavily and about to hyperventilate and this Annabeth was the complete opposite of the girl who handled everything when her mother passed earlier this year. I never felt like she properly grieved and here it was now, rearing its ugly head. I looked down at the floor, feeling awkward in the moment as she was racked with sobs once again.

"I know it's not fair. You mother should be there with us tonight and she should have been at Christmas dinner and she should be there when we get married one day, but remember that she will always be with you babe. You will always carry a piece of her in your heart."

"Percy –"

"– don't start! You know it's true and I know that is the cheesiest thing a person can say to someone grieving."

"I'm not grieving."

"Oh please! The random crying says otherwise, babe!"

"Oh Percy, you are a moron sometimes! Like a legit Seaweed Brain!"

"Which is exactly why you love me, and you know I'm right!"

She growled at me and fell backward on the bed, wiping her eyes viciously with the back of her hands. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I quickly shut it off.

"Answer it Perce. It's probably your Mother," she moaned with an almost bitter tone.

The phone buzzed once again and I glanced at the caller ID to see that Annabeth was right and I quickly answered and put the phone on speaker.

"Hey, Mom. What's up?"

"I was just checking to make sure you two were okay?"

"Relatively."

"Oh dear god, Percy just tell her I am having a mental break down and we won't make it tonight!"

"Annabeth, she can hear you, you know?"

"I don't need attitude from you right now Perseus!"

"And I don't need attitude from either one of you right now. Annabeth, if you feel like coming over later, just let me know. Rest and make that boy take care of you."

"Psh, 'cos that was ever in question."

"You can be a bit clueless, Son. Just do as you are told. Love you both and try to have a happy New Year's Eve."

"Love you, Mom."

I hit the end call button and then shut the phone off completely. Annabeth needed my full attention right now and if I was going to do that, I needed absolutely no distractions.

"Come here Wise Girl."

She sucked in several deep breaths and ignored me but reacted when Mrs. O'Leary bounced on her gut.

"Owe! Down girl, down!"

"Mrs. O'Leary, here girl," I snapped my fingers at the dog, forcing her to sadly lumber toward me.

Annabeth held a hand out towards me and I gladly took it, pulling her up to a sitting position.

"I just can't tonight. I know you wanted a fun filled New Year's Eve and were planning on giving me my gift and all of that but I just can't do it tonight."

She was on the verge of bawling again and instead of forcing her to me, I moved toward her and crawled in her lap, lacing my arms around her neck.

"Oh god, have you put on weight?"She groaned under me, still trying to stifle the tears and yet a small smile played on her lips.

"The holiday ten baby," I replied, leaving a giant kiss on her cheek and patting my belly.

"God, why do you have to be so damn annoying and yet so cute when I feel absolutely terrible?"

"It's my gift and I am your spirit animal. Now, are we staying here or are we showing up fashionably late?"

She glared at me and I threw my hands in the air. "I had to ask. You're joking with me and have really been up and down here lately."

"I know," she whined, pulling me back toward her and burying her face in my chest.

"I love you Beth, you know that right?"

She sucked in several fast deep breaths and nodded, never looking up at me.

"I wish you would just talk to me. I want to know what happened in California."

She released a groan and then looked up at me, "Helen was in fine form. She was beyond pissed that I -" She stopped herself mid-sentence and then looked away before starting again. "She is pissed about our living arrangements. She said that it really disgusted my father that we are living together and yet we aren't married and we don't even have a place to actually live together. She said that it was driving him crazy that we bounce from place to place and don't have an actual place to call our own."

"You're leaving something out."

"No! She wouldn't lay off. I hate that my father wouldn't stand up for me in any sort of way, that he let her just go on about how disgusting we are. Don't get me wrong, I have never had any issue with how we live our lives until she started in on me. Percy," she cried, "do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

I was caught off guard by her question and she noticed the lack of a response and started in on me again.

"Do you not want to marry me?"

"Of course I do. I want to spend every last minute of my life with you. Why would you even ask that?"

"Because . . . Thalia and Luke have been married for what seems like ever and they have a baby now. Silena and Beckendorf are getting married later this year, and Piper and Jason are engaged now! Where the hell does that even leave us?

"I want what they all have. I want the engagement and the big elaborate wedding and your babies and I know that sounds shallow of me but . . . but . . ."

She was so upset that her eyes had gone from their usual storm gray to charcoal and shuddered slightly. I had no clue that Helen could influence her this much and I was about to break. I laced my fingers through her hair and pulled her face towards me, resting my forehead against hers.

"I love you so much. You are my world, hell, Annabeth, we have been inseparable since we were twelve years old. I never want you to doubt me, or my love for you in any way, shape or form. I love you to the moon and back. Now wait right here!"

I jumped off the bed and dashed to the closet, looking for my old backpack that I had her wedding band as well as the engagement ring that I hadn't taken to the store to get soldered and thank god. She needed this. She needed to know we were headed there. I wasn't going to deny her that little bit of comfort when her year had been so hard.

I quickly made my way back to the bed and found her with her head in her hands, crying once again which made me crawl right back into her lap.

"Annabeth Chase," I started picking her head to look back up at me, "I want you in my life forever. I want to come home to you every night." Leave it to the dog to interrupt me during one of the most important moments of our lives and I couldn't help but comment, "You too Mrs. O'Leary, you too." A small giggle left Annabeth as she gave the pup a loving pat on the head before pushing her back down next to us. "Will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

I held out the simple platinum gold ring with a single princess cut diamond to her and a smile spread across her face through her tears.

"Of course I will you idiot!"

I slipped the ring on her finger and then pulled her backward on the bed with me. Hugging and kissing her the whole time.

"Now, where is my present for tonight?" she asked through happy sobs and kisses.

"Woman, please! You didn't even get out of your PJ's today! That present will have to way for another day!"

* * *

 **AN** \- Slowly catching up. Attempting to catch up anyway. Thank you for the faves, follows and reviews! I appreciate it!

 **3** \- God love you! Thank you for being my beta and catching all the mistakes...there were a ton here! Oops! One day I will get this writing thing down right! My dogs are old and grouchy too...can I get a new fluff ball? LOL And I had to get the poker dogs in somewhere. It fit finally!

By the way, go check out her latest story and chapter! So awesome! Love me some Daddy P and little P issues!

 **Guest & PJOIsDaBest** \- Got you 2 new chapters! Possibly a third this evening!

 **jodanfritz10** \- Thank you! Hopefully you like the next one as well!


	9. Day 8

**Day 8 – January 1st**

 ** _Percy  
_** "Could you guys move any faster?"

"Percy, could you stop asking that of us? We are moving as fast as we can," Silena whined as she helped Beckendorf remove a large bookcase from the apartment.

"I know, I know, we are just _so_ pressed for time. It's three thirty and we only have until six. Well, let me rephrase that, I have to be back here before six so she doesn't call the cops."

"Honestly, I am surprised that you have managed to pull off the last seven days without her killing you," Beckendorf replied, leaving me to the almost empty apartment.

"Ditto man, ditto."

I looked around, the apartment suddenly much larger than it had ever been when we were actually in here, and I sighed sadly. There were so many memories in this place and a small tear pushed free. I walked back into the bedroom to make sure we didn't miss anything and gasped as I noticed that her present from the night before was tucked up on the shelf in the closet.

Last night almost threw a complete wrench in my plans, but I realized just how much she needed to know that I actually wanted her in every way possible. No dates had to be debated, she just needed to know we would have that happy ever after, so I gave her that knowledge.

I pulled the box close to my chest and smiled, bidding the room farewell before making my way back into the living room.

"I am pretty sure we got it all in the truck, man."

"Thanks, Luke."

My friends and family gathered in the room, each doing quick once-overs on the rooms and gathered back around me, all with smiles on their face.

"You know, we all always thought that you and Annabeth would be the first to get married and the first to have kids but honestly, this is perfect. The craziness that you have managed to pull off so far is so completely you and perfectly Annabeth."

"I am just lucky enough to have each and every one of you in my life. You guys have no idea what you mean to me, let alone Annabeth. Now, let's get our asses in gear and get everything off the truck so I can get back before she calls the cops!"

I pulled into the driveway of our new home, making sure to leave enough room for Beckendorf to back the moving truck in next to me. My heart pounded in my chest. Part of me hated that everyone in our group had seen the new house but her and then I remember why I was doing this. All of this was for her. I wanted her to know just how much she was loved, just how much I needed her in my life and how much I wanted to share everything with her, even if I was being a sneaky little shit at the moment.

"So Perce, how do you want us to do this?" Jason asked as he was unloading furniture into the garage.

"So, you know Annabeth has this thing with design, and I want her to have that since I totally picked out the house without her and you guys have seen the place before her."

"Quit the jibber jabber and just tell us what to do with the stuff!"

A laugh escaped me as I tried to think, "Just leave the furniture in the rooms it all belongs in. Annabeth and I will put everything back together where she wants it. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and quickly set about pulling furniture from the truck and moving it into the house and pieces we weren't exactly sure what to do with, went to the corner of the garage for the time being. It wasn't until I noticed it was incredibly dark outside that I realized I had made a terrible mistake.

* * *

 ** _Annabeth  
_** The day had been insanely long. Thalia took it upon herself to help me go look for a dress for the Cinderella Ball and I nearly cried when the beautiful white dress I tried on with Silena and her earlier in the week was gone.

"Oh Annabeth, there are other dresses out there, we will find it!"

"Thalia, you don't get it. That _was_ the dress."

"For your wedding, not the ball."

"Whatever, Thals. I just really wanted that dress."

"Okay, so I have a plan. There has to be another dress like that at one of the eight hundred dress shops in this city. Let's grab lunch and hit as many as we can until we find the dress."

I groaned at my friend and scooped up the insanely heavy car seat with my tiny little cousin inside when suddenly Thalia grabbed my left hand.

"What the hell, Annabeth?"

"What?"

"What the hell is this?" Thalia was in frantic mode as she pulled my hand to her face. "Like, when the hell did this happen and why wasn't I called and oh my god! Is this why you two didn't show up last night? You selfish little shit!"

"Okay, A. you seriously need to calm the eff down. B. no this isn't why we weren't there last night. I was having a massive melt down if you must know, but yes this happened during the meltdown. I didn't call you because I was going to tell you today at lunch, but here you are having a freaking breakdown. Oh, how about next time you decide to yank my hand off of something, make sure it's not your kid's car-seat! I almost dropped him!"

Thalia looked down at the sleeping angel and smiled at him and then back at me, "He's fine. I wouldn't have let you drop him. Now, lunch and I want to hear all about this," she exclaimed, holding my hand up again.

* * *

I pulled into the apartment complex, oblivious to the fact that Percy's car was missing. I had just spent the entire day with Thalia and Jasper, and Thalia had a tendency to drain my batteries without even really trying, and with the way I had been feeling lately, I was done by two today. Normally, I could make it until at least four!

She took me to lunch and then proceeded to drag me in and out of every dress shop we could find on the way home, where I spent more than I wanted to on a dress I really didn't want but I knew Percy would love.

I sighed, yanking the plastic covered dress out of my car and marched unhappily up to my front door. I wasn't even in the apartment yet and something felt off. I shoved the key in the lock, waiting for Mrs. O'Leary's bark, but heard nothing.

 _'Maybe Percy took her back to his place?'_

I opened the door, stepping in quickly, dropping my keys on the table only to have them slam into the floor.

"What the . . ." I cried out, dropping everything in my arms to the floor. I ran quickly through the apartment, every room completely empty. Not even a roll of toilet paper remained. I ran back to my phone, frantically digging it out of my purse and dialed nine-one-one.

* * *

 ** _Percy  
_** I pulled up to Annabeth's apartment at a quarter past six and realized I was too late. There was a cop car in my usual spot, lights flashing and Annabeth's front door was wide open.

 _'Shit!'_

Running up to the apartment, I stopped outside the door and tried to gather my wits. She was in there, crying again, and my heart sank.

"I know there wasn't an eviction notice. I most definitely locked up when I left this morning, I just don't get what is going on," she sobbed as the officer wrote down notes on his little pad.

 _'This was definitely not how this was supposed to go.'_

I crept into the home and stood next to the office and spoke quietly, "I can take it from here officer. Your services are not needed."

I almost wet myself as the officer next to me jumped and let out a squeal at the sound of my voice but the fact that Annabeth whipped around faster than a cheetah in hunt mode from her pacing rant scared me straight into submission.

"Perseus Jackson –"

"– I take that back officer, I might need you to stick around just in case she tries to murder me."

"What the hell did you do?"

"I . . . I . . . I have a surprise for you dammit! Officer, I beg of you, please, just hang out for a while. You know, just to make sure she doesn't try to beat me to death with her purse."

"This looks like a domestic issue, one I think you should be able to handle," he replied with a sly smile on his face as he watched us interact.

Annabeth glared at the cop, causing him to back up toward the door.

"Thank you officer. I think I can handle this from here," she replied, taking a step toward me which forced me to take a protective step toward the officer.

"Son, I wish you luck. Ma'am, please don't kill him. I'd hate to have to come back and arrest you for the death of your boyfriend."

"Fiancé," we replied in unison and he smiled wider.

"Good luck," he cried out, ducking out of the apartment quickly, leaving me lost in a state of shock, and allowing Annabeth to round on me.

"So, do you care to explain why the hell I came home to an empty apartment? Hell, not even empty, but bare ass apartment!"

"I bought you a house," I blurted out.

"A house is no excuse for me coming home to . . . wait, what the hell did you just say?"

"I bought you a house. It was supposed to be a surprise. I was supposed to be back here before you got home. I was going to intercept you and get you back into the car and have you follow me to the house. Of course, I wasn't going to tell you where we were going, but you get the idea."

"You. Bought. Me. A. House."

"Well us if you want to get technical."

"You bought me a house. You bought me a house?"

"Us babe, I bought us a house?"

"What the hell is wrong with you? You don't just go buy a house without talking to your partner first Percy!"

There were tears in her eyes and I swooped in, pulling her to my chest.

"You don't just go buy a house because my step-mother is an evil –"

"– for starters, buying a house takes time and lots of paperwork and I can't even begin to tell you how bad it made my head hurt, and back to the point! Helen had no bearing on me buying a house! I did this for us. Because I want us to be under one roof and not just crashing at whatever place is closer to where we ended our night."

"But . . . but Percy, it's a house!"

"No complaining dammit! Now go get in the car and follow me home!"

* * *

 ** _Annabeth_**  
I was still in shock, my heart pounding in my chest as I followed behind Percy's Explorer from the apartment complex to an adorable neighborhood full of colonial style homes. I knew the area; Thalia and Luke lived about five minutes from here and I couldn't help but wonder if they helped him look for a home.

We turned down another road, only this one wasn't paved, and I noticed it led to the backyard of every house on the street. Finally, Percy turned right into one of the larger driveways I had seen down this road and my mouth dropped.

Before me was a two-car driveway and detached garage that was placed to the far left in the yard. The backyard was closed off to me by a brand new privacy fence on the right as well as one on the left. I watched as Percy pressed a button on the visor in his vehicle and the garage door began to slide up.

He quickly jumped out of the car and ran to mine, opening the door and pulling me out into the cold night air. He pulled me through the garage that was filled with several of our larger pieces of furniture and I struggled against him for a moment as I wanted to see what hadn't made it into the house yet. He led me through a door which opened up to the backyard and my jaw dropped again. The yard wasn't massive by any means but it was perfect for Mrs. O'Leary, who came bounding from somewhere by the side of the garage toward us.

She quickly greeted us with a bark and then took off to do laps around two large trees evenly spaced apart that would provide amazing shade in the summer, though right now they were practically dead and frost covered, they were still beautiful. The lights on the back porch bounced off the frost and lit up the house. All of the lower story windows had flower boxes and were currently filled with poinsettias.

"Come with me," he whispered, pulling my hand and running me through the yard, through the house and out to the front door and out onto the front yard. "This would be better during the day but everyone still had their Christmas lights up, and I thought you would like it."

All of the homes around us were about the same size, two-story, colonials with pristine front yards and light displays. Percy was right, I did like it. It made my overly organized little heart happy to see such organized displays and then I turned around.

Our sweet little house was a stormy gray with stark white shutters and a large charcoal colored door. The pillars on the front porch were wrapped with bright white lights, and the house itself was trimmed in multicolored lights with white icicles underneath. In the front window on the left side of the house was the Christmas tree from my apartment. In the upstairs window on the right, the tree from Percy's.

My heart swelled as I took in the sight before me and then I took off. I ran back through the door and turned right and found myself hitting the staircase. As I got to the top of the stairs I noticed the Christmas lights from Percy's tree and I stepped into the room. It was a decent size, definitely bigger than the spare room in my apartment I tried to pass off as an office and this one came with a closet, unlike the apartment.

"I thought it would be the perfect office space for you."

I leaned back into the arms that wrapped around me and I smiled, "What else is up here?"

"Follow me."

I turned and followed him back into the short hallway, to find there was a small entertainment area, a full bathroom and the master bedroom set off to the left. Downstairs there was a small den, where Percy placed my Christmas tree, a huge living area, kitchen and dining area.

I was in complete heaven as I went back to the living room and took in the gravity of what had just happened. I had always imagined us going through the trouble of finding a house together, and signing all of the paperwork and getting the keys to our place together, but this was absolutely perfect. Percy knew my tastes so well that it didn't matter if I had been there or not.

"I can't believe you did this," I whispered as Percy walked up behind me.

He dropped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer, "All for you, love. All for you."

* * *

AN - SORRY! At least this chapter is a little longer than normal. I think. FF is screwed up again and I had to find another way around to get this updated! I am trying to rush the last few days for you guys but alas, school has started back up and **MrsPercyJackson3** has gone back as well.

Anywho, thank you to my beautiful beta **MrsPercyJackson3** for all your hard work! Love ya babe!

Thank you to the new followers, the favorites and reviews!

 **tinypurpledino** : Thank you so much! I love such sweet words!

PJOIsDaBest : I'm not giving out any secrets and you can't get them out of my beta either! Bwahahahaha!

MrsPercyJackson3 : Lol thankfully that is all there has been and not the 400 word sentence again...though I think I just challenged myself! And totally in for adding another fluff ball to the mix but I am NOT on potty training duty this time! And our girl...poor thing is a freaking walking disaster right now. And dang it man she did!


	10. Day 9

**Day 9 - December 2** **nd**

 ** _Annabeth  
_** At this rate, I was going to go insane. I had been staring at the clock all day in the hope that it would actually move only to find thirty seconds or so had gone by. All I wanted to do was get back to my new home so that Percy and I could finish putting the place together.

I have to admit, at first I was pretty ticked off the man bought a house without even consulting me, but as the night wore on and we slowly put things in their respective places, the more in love with him and the house I became.

Honestly, I didn't think that falling more in love with him than I already was, was even possible. But, here I was, sitting at work, bored out of my mind, daydreaming of my second night in my new home with my fiancé. I was honestly in heaven right now.

A small part of me wanted to call Helen and gloat, but I knew that she would turn everything around, just as she had when I was there for Christmas and I decided against calling. I was happy and I didn't need her ruining my mood.

"Hey, Annabeth," a quiet voice called to me and I looked up from the storyboard I was supposed to be looking over. "Mark said we could head out whenever you are ready."

I gave Piper a confused look and she shrugged at me as I looked at the clock on my desk. "But it's only four."

"Hey, I personally, am not against getting out of here an hour and half early, but if you want to stay . . ."

"Lord no! Come on Pipes, let's get the heck out of here."

"Oh, thank god! I don't know if it is just me, but today has seriously dragged on and on."

I smiled up at Piper, thankful for the news and immediately grabbed my phone.

'Hey Perce, on my way. Mark told us to scram. See you in about fifteen!'

"So, how do you like the new house?" Piper asked casually, looking at her nails while she waited for me to gather my things.

"How do you know about the new house? I haven't said a word."

She shrugged and then looked up at me with a sly smile. "Percy, of course. He had us empty out his apartment several days ago. How on earth do you think he managed to pull this off? Between me and Jason, Silena, Beckendorf, Luke, Thalia, and . . ."

"And?" I asked making my way toward her.

"Oh, sorry, I was trying to remember who all was there. Grover and Juniper were the other couple there."

I gave her a sideways glance and moved on. She almost let out a secret, but now that she was aware, I would never get the information out of her to save my life, so I figured it was just time to go home.

"Got it. Go get your stuff. I'll walk out with you."

* * *

It took me a little longer than fifteen minutes to get home, mostly because I forgot where I was going. I jumped in the car, turned the radio on and Imagine Dragons was blaring, so naturally I was distracted. Muscle memory took over and I started to head toward my old apartment.

 _'Old apartment.'_

That felt weird, rolling around in my head like that. It took me several extra minutes, but once I was finally on the right track, I couldn't help but think of anything other than the new house and how much fun Percy and I would have making it our own.

Ten minutes later, I burst through the back door of the home, Mrs. O'Leary an excited mess as she greeted me with a running leap that had her crashing to the ground just short of my feet.

"Oh good, you're home! I need your help," Percy exclaimed, disappearing just as quickly as he appeared.

"Well hello to you too," I called after him. "Where the heck are you?"

"Upstairs," he answered back and I wished I could move that fast.

I cursed him under my breath as I tried to take the stairs two at a time and quickly resorted to one at a time as my body screamed at me to slow down.

"Where on earth are you now?" I called, winded at the top of the stairs. He had been busy today. The sofa from his apartment was where we discussed and the giant flat screen from his place was on the wall across from the sofa. His perfect little gaming area.

"Our bathroom."

"Ugh, Percy, what have I told you about calling me in there when you are doing your business?!"

"Just get in here!"

I groaned and moved toward our room and slowly stepped into the bathroom to find him sitting on the counter, surrounded by candles as the oversized tub filled.

"What on earth?"

"For you, my Lady. Today we are taking a break. No setting up the house as planned, just some good ole you time and then some good ole us time."

"I know you said no complaining and trust me, I am not, but Percy, we really do need to get the house in order."

He hopped off the counter and moved toward me, quickly enveloping me in his arms and causing me to practically go limp. I was tired. Exhausted actually, and a good hot bath and some us time sounded ideal. But we couldn't live out of the boxes forever, and if he had it his way, we would skip all the usual unpacking and figuring things out and just move around them and dig through them when we needed things.

"I know what you are thinking. I can see it all over your face. I will take care of everything I possibly can, but Beth, I can see how exhausted you are," he said quietly, pulling away from me and pushing a stray curl out of my face. "I _need_ you to relax."

I sighed heavily. He was right.

 _'Dammit, I hate it when he's right!'_

"Fine. And thank you," I said softly in his ear, leaving a kiss on his cheek.

"When you're done, there is a present on the bed for you. Meet me in the living room."

Honestly, I didn't care about the bath or the present on the bed, I just wanted to snuggle into him and sleep, but he pulled away from me and left the bathroom without glancing back.

* * *

I wasn't exactly sure how long I was in the tub, I didn't exactly have a watch on me but the nap was amazing, until the water got cold and I woke shivering. I quickly dried off and made my way to the bedroom to find a medium red box in the middle of the bed.

 _'You_ so _aren't getting lucky tonight Mr. Jackson.'_

I popped the tape on the box, expecting some sort of lingerie to fall out, but much to my surprise it was something a lot less sexy. I quickly threw the pajamas on and then made my way downstairs to find him messing with Netflix and cursing quietly to himself each time the app kicked him out.

"You're leaving the one off the end of the password."

"Duh! Thanks, babe!"

I rounded on the sofa and before I could sit down, he was next to me, an arm around my waist and the other entwined in my hair as he pulled me in for a kiss.

After several minutes, I finally emerged for air and he asked, "Nice nap?"

"Wonderful," I replied, kissing him one more time. "By the way, these are simply the sexiest non sexy PJ's ever!"

"I thought you would think so," he replied with a laugh. "You look good in flannel plaid and whatever this fuzzy stuff is," he said as he ran a hand over the pink fuzzy material on my shirt.

"See, I thought you just liked the little foxes all over the top," I giggled back at him.

He plopped down on the sofa and gently pulled me into his lap. "I like all of it actually," he said with a quick kiss to the base of my neck. "Now, what do we want to watch tonight? Do we want to finally binge The Santa Clarita Diet or do we want to watch an honest to god movie for once?"

I snuggled into him and sighed in content. "Santa Clarita. I have been dying to get started on it, we just haven't had the time lately."

"Good. I could use a little comedy right now. Now help me out," he replied, pushing me to stand and then moving to the edge of the coffee table.

I followed suit, confused as to what was going on.

"Just roll with it, babe."

Rolling my eyes, I played along, moving the table to the far side of the room and then following him to a small closet and I didn't even notice the night before.

"Take this," he grunted at me, shoving several pillows and a blanket into my hands. He walked away from the closet with even more pillows and my favorite throw and like a lost little puppy I followed him back to the living room.

I couldn't do anything but watch as he tossed pillows on the sofa and then turned to me, taking the large blanket I was holding and spreading it across the floor in front of our sofa. He began dropping the pillows for us to lean back on and I quickly caught on, arranging my pillows for maximum support.

He disappeared on me a few minutes later and I was caught off guard when Mrs. O'Leary came trotting into the living room with a red tulip tucked into her collar. I reached down to pull out my flower and give the dog praise when Percy interrupted us.

He barged into the room, setting the pup into play mode as she took off around the sofa and did three fast laps before crashing into his legs and landing on her side on the floor.

"Poor thing, she really is a klutz."

"Sweet as can be though," he replied, dropping down next to me and opening the picnic basket, handing me a strawberry flavored water.

I leaned over him, forcing my way into the basket to see that the man had packed nothing but our favorite snacks and candies.

"Percy, do you really call this dinner? Wait, don't answer that!"

"It is all part of the present love. A nice long hot bath, new non sexy PJ's, a picnic on the floor in our new home with all of our favorites and the pizza will be here in about fifteen minutes."

"God, I could marry you!"

"You are," he deadpanned with a wink.

"At least you are good at something!"

"Hey," he cried, quickly wrapping his arms around me and pushing me back into the pillows as he kissed me once again. He pulled away after several minutes and smiled at me. "I am good at other things too!"

"That you are Mr. Jackson. That you are."

"Now, sit back, munch and enjoy our in home picnic."

I grabbed a bag of sour gummy worms from the basket and leaned back into Percy and the pillows. "I don't know how I got so lucky, but I thank god for you every day."

"I'm the lucky one," he replied, kissing the top of my head and sighing.


	11. Day 10

**Day 10 – January 3** **rd**

 ** _Percy  
_** "Hey Mark, it's Percy. I just wanted to make sure that we are still good for all plans and that Annabeth will be home by two."

"Hello, Percy. Yes, she has no clue but I will have Piper tell her to get the heck out of here whether she wants to go or not. I assume everything is still on for Friday night, despite the possible snow storm?"

"Come hell or high water. I am not letting a little bit of snow stop me!"

"Good man!"

"Plus, we found some amazing outdoor heaters, I just hope I have enough for the group we have gathered." I frowned thinking about our guest list and the thought of not having enough heaters to keep everyone warm.

"Well, if you don't let me know by tomorrow afternoon. I have several I can have shipped out to the location."

"I just might take you up on that. You know what, go ahead and send them. Just make sure they are marked so I don't accidentally send them back to the rental company!"

"Not a problem. Eight outdoor heaters coming your way!"

"Thank you, Mark. I truly appreciate it."

"Not a problem. I will see you Friday evening Percy."

I hung up with Mark and let out a sigh of relief that I didn't realize I was holding in. I was going to be sitting here bored for the next two hours as I had already packed our clothes, and everything we needed for Friday night was already at the beach house or the hotel.

I could clean up the mess from the night before but I was still relishing in the memories. Annabeth had managed to make it through four full episodes of Santa Clarita before I noticed she had calmed completely. I remembered looking down to see her curls covering her face and Mrs. O'Leary had her head on Annabeth's belly, snoring slightly as Annabeth rubbed an ear between her fingers involuntarily.

I was looking forward to more nights like that with her, Lord knows we have already had hundreds of them but this was different somehow. Things were going to change. Not in a bad way, but the dynamic would be different and that was okay by me.

* * *

"Percy? Percy where are you? You left Mrs. O'Leary out in the snow!"

I rubbed my eyes and sat up, trying to sneak a peek at my watch only to find that it was two-twenty and Annabeth was home and sounded pissed.

"In here, babe," I mumbled, being forced fully awake and to standing by Mrs. O'Leary, who was shaking her snow off on me and the sofa. "I am so sorry girl. Daddy fell asleep and I never heard you cry." I scooped up the poor shivering pup, scratching behind her ears and turn to see Annabeth, giving me an odd look.

"You are a terrible pet parent!"

"I know. You aren't going to let me live this one down. Now do me a favor while I get a towel and dry her off completely. Go change. Super comfy, we have a little bit of a drive."

"Oh, the sexy, non-sexy PJ's count?"

"Oh how I would kill to see you in the fuzzy pink foxes and grey and pink plaid, I don't know that you would want to be seen in the stores in that, so just warm and comfy Babe."

"I am going to assume that this is part of my present and that I shouldn't complain and just do as I am told?"

"That is exactly it. I will meet you in the Explorer in just a few."

She rolled her eyes at me and then quickly disappeared up the stairs, leaving me to tend to Mrs. O'Leary. I put the dog down and grabbed a towel out of the laundry room, drying her the rest of the way. I picked up my jacket, keys and wallet from the small table by the back door and called the pup to me. We made our way out to the garage and I prayed that nothing would go wrong these next two days.

* * *

 ** _Annabeth  
_** I pulled my head from the window and looked over at Percy. "We're going to the cabin, aren't we?"

He had that gleam in his eye. The one that said 'I am trying to be sneaky and do something nice for you, so just play along.' "You know I have to work tomorrow, right?"

"Well, you are off for the next two weeks," he replied happily, smiling like a loon at me!

"Do you care to explain how?" I tried to keep my voice calm as I appreciated the gesture but I knew that I was going to need the time off that I had built up later.

"So, I talked to Mark about the house and a few other things," he threw a wink at me like this would impress me, "and he agreed, that instead of the cash bonus you would have got, to give you two weeks paid vacation. The plus side is, it's eighty hours at your new pay grade and twenty in overtime at the new paygrade as well!"

"How the hell did you managed that?"

"I have my ways. I have the next two weeks off as well. Figured we could use it to get the house in order and hopefully get you back to one hundred percent. I'm actually hoping our trip to the cabin will help relax you a little more."

My heart fluttered in my chest.

 _'Dear god, how did I get so lucky?'_

His hand found my and he slowly brought it to his lips. I closed my eyes and allowed to the sound of the road and Percy's music to lull me to sleep.

* * *

I walked into the cabin expecting gag. Usually the place was musty and smelled of seaweed and mold, but today I was hit with the smell of apple and cinnamon and my stomach growled.

"You've been here already?" I asked, giving him the side eye as Mrs. O'Leary bounded into the cabin and went straight to the wood burning stove.

"Of course. I needed it nice and ready for our weekend here! Plus, you and some smells haven't been getting along too well and the last thing I wanted was for you to be throwing up while we were here. Are you finally getting over whatever that bug was?"

My mind had wandered, and I came to when Percy snapped his fingers in my face. "Annabeth, focus!"

"Huh? Sorry! Yeah, I think I am getting better. Haven't felt sick in a few days."

"Good. Now go relax. Pick a movie and you and Mrs. O'Leary chill out while I tend to dinner."

I made my way to the sofa and plopped down, grabbing the TV remote and then hollered out, "Anything but the eggplant parm again! Last thing we need is for the cabin to be on fire!"

"Hey, I didn't burn down the apartment!"

"No, just the oven and you made the stove top explode. I am not even going to attempt to figure that one out," I laughed as I flipped through channels.

"Just watch a movie and let me cook!"

"Okay, okay," I whined in return and put my attention back to the television.

Slowly, my eyes wandered and as I took in the cabin. It wasn't large by any means but the open floor plan made it feel that way. The instant you walked in the door you found yourself in a small makeshift foyer that Sally had created with a large bookcase. Behind the bookcase was her 'office'. She often used the space to write her book while Percy and I were still in high school. Honestly, I always thought of it as her secret getaway with Paul but Percy always turned a blind eye to that comment.

Behind the secret office, it opened up into the living room that was home to a full size sofa and two love seats. Sally lovingly tossed several larger pillows around the floor for friends to use when we ran out of seating. The kitchen and dining area were to our right and the only rooms closed off to us were the bedroom and bathroom.

Long before Percy had ever brought me here, he told me that the place was just completely open and slightly smaller. His mother had it renovated after she came into some money when her book hit number one on the best seller list. I wish I could have seen it then. When it was just an old, dilapidated building that was a safe haven for my husband to be.

I turned my head to see him standing over a pot of boiling water, a confused look on his face and resisted the urge to help him.

 _'Let him have this Annabeth. You don't have to control everything.'_

I allowed my eyes to drift; this getting tired so easy nonsense was driving me insane. All I wanted to do was sleep when usually we were both go, go, go.

"Hey, Sleepy Head, dinner is ready." Soft lips pressed against my forehead and I sighed happily.

"In here or at the table?" I asked, stretching and reaching out for him, only to have him move away quickly.

"I'll be right back," he called toward my empty, reaching hands. Moments later he was back with a large pasta bowl that he placed into my waiting hands.

"Spaghetti," I whispered, taking in the aroma of the sauce and garlic bread. For once my stomach didn't lurch at the smell and I resisted the urge to dig in immediately. Percy sat down next me, pressing a few buttons on the remote and then gave me his famous crooked smile.

That smile could get that man out of any kind of trouble, and not just with me. It was a little frightening.

"So, I went for all out sappy tonight."

I looked up at him, confused as to what he was talking about and noticed he was nodding toward the television. Lady and the Tramp was playing and I felt a tear push out of my eye. "Oh, Percy, this is the sweetest thing you have ever done!"

"I know, I am just awesome like that. Vacation at the cabin, your favorite Disney movie, and the spaghetti and meatball dinner to go with it." He leaned over to kiss me and I couldn't help but smile.

"Aren't we supposed to do that with a noodle?"

"Yeah, well we'll get to that once we actually start eating. Did you even notice, one big massive plate and two forks?"

"I did. I also noticed there are a lot more meatballs on this side you are on. You better share."

"I will, don't worry. As long as you play a game of strip Battleship with me, but for now, bon appetite."

He smiled at me, trying to be coy as he picked up the fork and started twirling noodles around on his fork. "You really know how to ruin a moment, Perseus. That would be a no to your version of the game and a possible yes to just a regular game and you're still sharing the meatballs."

"Another reason why you love me. And damn, I was hoping you wouldn't hear that and just agree."

"Whatever Seaweed Brain, but I still love you anyway."

* * *

 **AN** \- Sorry! Don't shoot me or you won't get a finished story! Things have just been a bit hellacious on my end.

So, once again a massive thank you to **MrsPercyJackson3** for helping me out and being my beta and dealing with my insanity. SO much appreciation!

 **MPJ3** : Dude, I had to shorten it! LOL Yes, that pesky period ruined it all! Still in NY somewhere! LOL I have never been, we will just say some suburb of the city because that seems safe. I am just basing my info off old Friends episodes. But yes, we looked at a house similar to what I described and man I wish we could have got that one. Life (insert a massive eye rolling emoji right here).

 **godgirl13** : Thank you so much and you are too kind! Life has just been a bit of a mess since winter break started. I think I am back in the grove of things now.

So, only two days left and an epilogue. I will be a bit sad when this one ends! Hope you all have enjoyed it so far!


	12. Day 11

**Day 11 – January 4** **th**

 _ **Annabeth**_  
I stretched and released a yawn. I managed a nap but only a short one this time thankfully. It seemed like my sleeping habits were going to be the death of me here lately and I figured I might as well cave to them now. We were on vacation after all.

I looked around the empty cabin and found myself longing for Percy. All I wanted to do was cuddle up and relax. Tomorrow was going to be insane with Thalia, Silena, Piper and a few others stopping in to help me get ready for the ball as they got ready as well.

Wandering over to the window, I found Percy and Mrs. O'Leary playing on the shoreline as bits of ice and frozen sea foam pushed onto the shore. I don't know how that man managed all of this but I couldn't help but smile as the two ran around like maniacs.

Part of me wanted to run down and join them but there was this nagging part of me that knew by the time I got dressed warm enough to join them that they would be coming back up to the cabin and I would miss out on all of the fun.

I sighed sadly and made my way to the bedroom, glaring at the plastic covered dress hiding in the closet. It definitely wasn't what I wanted and while I knew that Percy would love the emerald green, pouf of a ball gown I bought, I was still less than impressed.

Angry at the dress and the circumstances, I growled and threw on my snow clothes and marched outside in record time. The frigid air slammed into my face, waking me fully from my funk as Mrs. O'Leary came bounding toward me.

"Hey girl," I cooed, as she made a desperate attempt to weave in and out of my legs, almost taking me to the ground.

"Careful babe, we don't need any broken bones."

"That would kind of put a damper on the dancing tomorrow night, wouldn't it?" I asked, grasping his arms as he caught me before I slammed into the ground.

"Last thing we need! Now go back up to the back porch, I am going to get the fire pit going. I stocked the place up with s'mores, hot chocolate and apple cider, so be ready for a small feast!"

"Do you need me to do anything?" I asked, shivering on the spot.

"Kitchen, top cabinet on the left, grab all the snack goodies while I get the fire pit going, would you please?"

I left a kiss on his cheek and called Mrs. O'Leary to me as I tried to carefully make my way back to the cabin with Percy chuckling behind me. "Knock it off or I'll put you face first in the snow," I growled at the man.

"Whatever you say, love," he whispered with the slight hint of a laugh in his voice.

Rolling my eyes, I finally made it into the cabin and Mrs. O'Leary bounded around me, nearly tripping me as I made my way toward the kitchen. "We are seriously going to have to get you into some training," I mumbled, rubbing my elbow that slammed into the wall in the desperate attempt to keep from slamming into the floor.

My grumpy mood was quickly coming back as I dug through the cabinet Percy mentioned and pulled out a massive bag of junk food. The marshmallows gave off an overwhelming aroma of sweet and it took everything I had not to gag.

I dug around in the cabinets again and smiled as I pulled down the packets for hot chocolate and apple cider. I set about to making our drinks and then picked up the bag for s'mores and whimpered, praying that lunch would stay down as I quickly walked back outside to rid my nose of the disgusting sweet lingering in the air.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, the sweet just got to me."

"You look a little green. Hand me that," he demanded, moving me toward the Adirondack closest to the fire pit. "Warm up and I will get treats made for us."

The fire warmed my legs which in turn, sent a slow warmth up my body. I could feel myself drifting off again when Percy sat on the arm of the chair, waking me from the turbulent thoughts that were swirling around my head.

"Whatcha got there?"

My right hand lifted slightly, holding out his tumbler. "Hot chocolate. Plain and simple. The mini marshmallows are in the bag, I figured you could add them yourself."

He kissed the top of my head and stroked my curls quietly, watching the fire dance before us.

"I wish you would talk to me. I wish you would tell me what is going on in that head of yours. You have had me so worried since you called me on Christmas Eve."

I wanted to tell him everything. I honestly did, but I didn't want to ruin his twelve days of gifts. We only had tonight and tomorrow left and then I could spoil everything. I could easily bring our world down upon us with two little words and he honestly had no clue. I couldn't do that to him. Not yet anyway.

 _ **Percy**_  
She leaned into my side as best as she could with the chair in the way and sighed. "I won't force you. Just remember, you can talk to me you know."

I continued to stroke her hair as she took a sip out of her cup.

"Just a little more time Perce," she mumbled.

I needed out of the depressing moment and decided now was the time to give her the day's present.

"So, why don't you show me your dress for the ball?"

She turned her head up toward me, a weak smile on her face. "Sure," she replied quietly, setting her cup down and pushing herself up out of the chair like she was in extreme pain.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just a little sore from the nap on the sofa. Nothing to worry about." She plastered that fake smile on her face again and leaned in, leaving a kiss on my cheek.

I followed behind her, keeping a hand on the small of her back as I partially led her through the cabin. "So do you want to tell me about this monstrosity of a dress you have been keeping hidden under that bag?"

"Oh, you will see in just a moment," she giggled, crossing the threshold to the bedroom and moving away from me.

She disappeared into the closet as I sat down on the edge of the bed. Annabeth reappeared moments later with the giant white bag that she kicked out in front of her. "Now, it wasn't exactly what I wanted but you'll see why I picked it out in just a moment."

I tried not to smile as I knew what was coming and she growled slightly as the zipper got stuck halfway down. She finally freed it from the knot and stood back up.

"Now, if the color is too much, it's too late to change it. There wasn't anything else at any of the stores I loved. If I'm lucky, there won't be anyone else there in this color, so maybe it's not a bad thing."

' _Oh, trust me love, you will be the only one there in this color,_ ' I wanted to tell her but I kept my mouth shut and urged her on with my hands to show me the dress. I also knew that this was technically bad luck but we weren't exactly doing this in the most traditional manner, therefore I wasn't worried about any wedding day traditions. At least, not right now.

"Okay, so prepare yourself," she warned, pulling the dress from the bag, only to stop halfway. "What the . . ."

"Do you like it?"

"What on earth did you do?"

Tears began to well in the corner of her eyes and I stood up, pulling her toward me. "I didn't do anything really. Thalia and Silena, on the other hand, had a lot to do with this one. All I did was take that beautiful green dress back and pick up this one. You should be thankful your friends love you!"

"But . . . but . . ." she stuttered, tears now running down her cheeks.

"Silena sent me the pictures of you in this dress and then told me you were putting it back. I took it upon myself to have her put it on hold. She didn't tell me why you put it back but that you really did love this dress and thus your present for today was born!"

She carefully laid the dress across the bed and then wrapped her arms around my waist. "Do you know how absolutely amazing you are?"

"I do, actually," I replied nonchalantly.

She slugged me in the arm and then left a kiss on my lips that I deepened. "God, I love you."

* * *

 ***AN***

Don't shoot me! It's not that I ran out of steam but rather this chapter is not really what I wanted at all. Then life and more life and well more life. I swear I will make up for it in the last two chapters!

Really, you should be thanking my beta for coming by and giving me the smack that I needed to get this finished! Thank you **MrsPercyJackson3** for all the hard work and yelling at me to get things finished...or starting on a new story when I should have been finishing this one bwahahaha! Sorry, didn't mean to throw you under the bus with that one!

So leave some reviews. I love seeing what you guys think!


	13. Day 12

**_Day 12 – January 5th_**

 ** _Percy_**  
I woke to the whining of Mrs. O'Leary and sighed. Annabeth pulled me closer to her and I shrugged down at the dog. Mrs. O'Leary whined at me again and turned her head to the side, giving me her puppy dog eyes. I caved and tried to remove Annabeth's arms from across my chest. She stirred but settled quickly as I made my escape to let the dog out.

As I opened the door I was met with a wall of snow and suddenly I panicked. I ran to the front door, the small beast bounding behind me and was greeted by another small wall.

"Crap!"

Mrs. O'Leary ran past me and dove into the pile, biting and barking as she played.

As my eyes adjusted to the brightness before me, my heart skipped a beat. There was a lot of snow on the ground and the sky above me threatened to unleash more upon us. "Shit, shit, shit! This is not good!"

"Percy, close the door. It's freezing in here now!"

I turned to see Annabeth shivering in the bedroom doorway, a blanket wrapped around her as she tried to steady herself and wake all the way.

"What's wrong?"

"Hmm?"

"There's something wrong," she whispered, moving closer to me. "So tell me, what's wrong?"

My arm flew out to my side as I moved out of the way and showed her the pile of snow in front of the door.

"I have a ton to do today and to spoil some of your gift, I have a limo that has to get down here and get you to the ball and there is absolutely no way it is going to make it with all this snow!"

She lazily moseyed over to me, wrapping the blanket around me. There was a kiss on my cheek followed by her pulling my face back toward hers.

"Hey, relax. It's just the drifts," she said quietly. "Look," she continued, nodding back toward the front yard of the cabin.

I slowly turned to find our little mutt of a dog, chasing her tail in about half a foot of snow and I sighed in relief. I was beginning to stress and I immediately pulled my phone out to text Thalia.

 _Hey, how much snow did you guys get last night? Will you guys be able to make it out ok?_

An arm snaked around my waist and I found myself leaning into her as I waited for Thalia to return my text. The phone buzzed in my hand and I kissed her cheek, leaving her to watch Mrs. O'Leary as she snapped at small flurries.

 _Calm down Seaweed Brain. The roads are fine and TWC swears there is no snow in the forecast until tomorrow. So breathe, feed her breakfast and we will be over with lunch and will take over. Just enjoy your morning._

A heavy sigh left me as I left a thumbs up for Thalia and then shoved the phone back in my pocket. "Come on babe, get a movie ready while I get breakfast going."

She smiled at me and my heart fluttered. She had no clue what was coming tonight and I prayed she wouldn't run away screaming.

 ** _Annabeth  
_** "Get up sleepy head! We have a lot of work ahead of us."

"Ugh, Thals, tone it down."

"I don't have time. I have a baby that is going to start screaming to be fed here shortly, as well as you to get ready for the ball. The limo will be here at four-thirty and its one forty-five."

I heard the woman move around as I pulled the throw pillow over my face. The smell of whatever food that she brought with her made my stomach churn.

"Get up," Thalia growled, yanking the pillow from my face and dropping a Taco Bell box on my chest. "It's just a cravings box. Taco, burrito and some chalupa thing with those cinnamon twists you like. Now eat!"

The smell hit my nose and my stomach lurched once more, sending me flying to the bathroom. I managed to emerge several minutes, mouth rinsed, stomach calm, vision clear again as Thalia glared at me.

"What?" I shrugged, moving toward her.

"Soooo . . ." Thalia started in on me, "does he know?"

"Does who know what?" I dropped on the sofa next to Thalia and picked up my box, my stomach turning and rumbling in hunger at the same time.

"Oh God, really Annabeth? You're going to play that card?"

Truth was, I knew exactly what she was talking about, but talking with anyone about it made it all too real. The fight I had with Helen over this exact topic was why I was barely hanging on. Had things with my awful stepmother gone differently, had the yelling been about anything else, I think I would be in a slightly better place mentally.

Thalia rolled her eyes and released a huff of air, blowing her bangs out of her face.

"Whatever Chase. Just eat so we can get started. Silena and Piper should be here shortly."

I sighed and did as I was told, thankful that she knew me almost as well as Percy which caused her to quickly drop the subject.

I tried to shovel in what I could of the food but between the anticipation of tonight and Jasper's constant screams, I only managed to get in the taco and cinnamon twists before I felt like my stomach was going to betray me again.

Silena and Piper showed up at a quarter to three and immediately started in on Thalia.

"You have been here for an hour already and you have done what?"

"Hey, you don't have a screaming three-week-old on your hands and a person who has absolutely no desire to do anything to help me at this given moment!"

Silena backed away from Thalia and was about to start in when Jasper started screaming once more.

"And this, my friends, is why nothing has happened," I replied pulling Silena and Piper all of the way into the cabin. "And what the hell took the two of you so long to get here? Weren't you supposed to be here at two?" I questioned the girls only to have Silena yank my left hand to her face.

"What the hell Chase? When did this happen and why weren't we informed?"

"Owe, that's my hand –"

"– and you have another one. Now spill it!"

"He asked me on New Year's Eve. I haven't said anything because I wanted to wait until we had a chance to pick a date. Things have been insane this week with all of these gifts, the house, the moving, and then the ball tonight, which we should probably get ready for," I replied, hoping to ease off the topic. We had agreed not to mention anything until things settled and while I knew I could trust Thalia to keep her mouth shut after she found out, Silena . . . Silena was a whole other story.

Silena rolled her eyes at me and then smacked Piper in the arm, "Can you believe she didn't tell anyone?"

"I knew," Piper replied timidly as she then ducked behind me.

"What?"

"I knew. I saw the ring the other day at work. I figured if she wanted to say something she would have, so I didn't press the issue. Not everyone is you Silena. Not all of us like to post every last bit of our lives to the world."

Piper was on tiptoe, speaking over my shoulder and I couldn't help but smile as she said exactly how I felt about the whole situation.

Silena glared as us and then turned on Thalia. "Let me guess, you knew too?"

Thalia quickly shook her head no but Silena could see through the lie. She instead popped Thalia in the arm and moved to the bedroom.

"Y'all suck," she whined as she crossed the threshold. "Come on losers, we have about an hour and half before the limo gets here. Now move it!"

A sigh escaped me as Piper moved next to Thalia and whispered to Jasper. "She's mad at me, isn't she?"

"I'm not mad, Chase! Just a little disappointed you didn't tell your best friend you were engaged. Now move it!"

I could hear the sadness in her voice but I wasn't going to let her get to me. This was my thing. Mine and Percy's and everyone else deserved to know when we were ready, not when they felt they should know.

"Chase," Silena screamed at me again, causing Jasper to go off on another round of screams which then sent me marching off to the bedroom in an annoyed huff. _'This night better be worth it.'_

 ** _Percy_**  
"How many more of these dang things do we have to unload?" Luke whined, moving one of the large heaters to its new home for the night.

"Just two more of these, and then there are eight more in the truck over there. After that, we are done."

I looked down at my watch, it was two-thirty and I had just made it back with Annabeth's father, stepmother and brothers before the next round of snow hit.

"How on earth did you get this place decorated so fast?" Jason questioned as he struggled with one of the remaining heaters.

"Grover and Juniper were surprisingly helpful in getting this place prettied up." I looked around at the aqua tulle lined chairs with snowflakes and large white tulips on the aisle ends and couldn't help but smile. "Juniper was able to talk my mother, Paul, dad and Amphitrite into coming in and helping as well. Everything you see out here is because Juniper got it all together. Apparently she can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be."

"No kidding," Jason replied as he tried to take in the enormity of the task Juniper took on.

"So, how was the drive with the evil step-witch to be?" Luke questioned, quickly changing the subject.

"Silent. No, wait, it was silent up until it really started snowing and then she lost her freaking mind. It took Matthew chewing her out to get her to knock it off. I really wish I knew what the hell her problem was."

"Simple, she's jealous of your girlfriend."

"Umm . . . I think you are little off there, Castellan."

Luke and Jason both stopped on the spot, looking at me like I had two heads.

"Man, Helen is so jealous of Annabeth. Everything Frederick did was for Annabeth and to keep some sort of contact with her. I honestly believe that woman resents her for everything."

"You think so?" I questioned, cocking my head to the side and thinking about what Luke just said. "Like what?"

"Most definitely. And it was just everything growing up. Annabeth's mother moved her out to California and then Frederick moved them out there so he could be closer to Annabeth. Then he moved them back here when Athena moved the pair back. He didn't ask what Helen thought, he just did it because he had to keep a relationship with his daughter. I think all of that was enough to drive a wedge in there. I don't know . . . maybe I am crazy, but I really think that everything he did for Annabeth drove her nuts. Just make sure she keeps her mouth shut tonight. She could absolutely ruin everything you have planned."

I tried to ignore Luke's words and Jason's grunts of agreement but I knew deep down he was right. I didn't want to be walking on eggshells all evening and yet I knew that was what was going to happen.

* * *

"No, just get there! I will call to let them know you are going to be a little late."

"At least twenty minutes late, Mr. Jackson."

"I will let them know you will be a little late. Last I heard, the snow wasn't that bad on the island."

"I will do my best but please let them know I could be up to twenty minutes."

I let out a sigh and rolled my eyes. "Whatever you say Dave. Just get them here safely."

"Will do Mr. Jackson."

Shoving the phone in my pocket, I took a minute to look around the room. Everything for tonight was neatly in its place. I had our change of clothes for tonight in nice neat piles, and coming from me that was a plus. Normally I just dropped things and came back to them later or when I was out of clothes to wear. Which is where Annabeth came in. She was in charge of making sure I looked like a normal human being every morning and not the walking mess that ensued when I was alone.

The impending storm was making me nervous as I fiddled with the blinds of the window and looked out at the flurry of flakes that were falling all around the hotel. _'Shit, this isn't good!'_

A knock on the door startled me and I quickly made my way to the door to see Annabeth's father through the peep hole.

I opened the door to his smile and I knew that something was wrong. It was the same smile Annabeth wore when she was trying to hide things from me. _'What is it with this family and hiding things from everyone here lately?'_

"How you doing, son?"

"Trying not to throw up," I replied honestly, stepping aside and letting him in the room. "Just praying this goes off without a hitch."

"I've talked with Helen. She swears to be on her best behavior this evening. I have begged her not to ruin this for Annabeth. The boys have begged her and she seems to cave to them more than me. I think we are in the clear."

"That is a small load off my shoulders," I replied sadly, moving back to the window and watching the snow fall.

"Everything will go as planned."

"How do you know that?"

"I just know it will. You have put your complete heart and soul into tonight and my daughter. I don't think that the powers that be will ruin that now."

"You haven't had the week we have had," I mumbled under my breath, moving back to the window only to see the snow coming down harder. "I am just scared that everything is going to go wrong; that she will figure out what is going on and run away because it's not how she envisioned things and dear god, I should have included her in this. I shouldn't have left her out of anything! I should have just given her the engagement ring and then sat down with her and discussed a date that was important to us, not just gone with the twelfth day of Christmas. I should have gone house hunting with her and not relied on our friends and family and she most definitely should have been there when I signed the paper work for the house and got the keys –"

"– you're worried over nothing Percy. If she didn't want to be with you in any way, shape or form, she would have bolted ages ago. That girl loves you more than you will ever understand and hold up a second! You bought a house?"

"Why does everyone act like I am incapable of buying a house? Yes, I bought us, as in Annabeth and myself, a damn house!"

Frederick threw his arms up in the air, "Easy son. You just caught me off guard with that one is all. I had no clue that a house was on your list of gifts."

"Honestly, it wasn't until a couple of months ago. I didn't think it would be doable. But I found a really good deal and Annabeth doesn't know yet, but it is actually one of the first housing developments that Athena . . ." the words hitched in my throat and I sucked in a deep breath ". . . that Athena designed. I wanted her to always have a part of her mother . . ." I trailed off, watching as the snow fluttered past the window.

An arm draped across my shoulders and Frederick spoke quietly. "You know, you are the best thing that has ever happened to her. She needs you more than you will ever know."

"No chance in me getting you to tell me what happened while she came to visit you is there?"

"I am almost positive she will confide in you tonight. Just get through the wedding first. And I came to let you know the staff put the tent back up. The heaters couldn't keep up with the amount of snow."

"And you were saying that the powers that be wouldn't mess with our day . . ."

 ** _Annabeth_**  
"Head up, you're going to mess up your curls!"

"Ugh," I groaned, lifting my head off the sofa cushion, wishing I could just nap for a few minutes. "They are natural Silena! Me laying on them isn't going to ruin them!"

"Shut it! I know what I am talking about," Silena whined, primping my hair once more.

"Where is that damn limo?" Piper asked, pacing by the front door. "We are going to be late."

"Percy text about thirty minutes ago. It should be here any minute. At least I hope it should be. The fact that it is this late really kind of worries me about the road conditions."

I couldn't sit anymore, so I pushed myself away from Silena's ever busy hands and marched up to Thalia, taking Jasper from her and immediately relaxed as the baby snuggled into my chest.

"Why is it that Percy is keeping in contact with _you_ more than he is with me, you know his _fiancé_?"

"Present, Annabeth, present. You can't whine, cry, or complain about any of it. The snow just happened to throw a small wrench in the plans."

I wasn't actually listening to Thalia, but instead turned to look at my friends, all nervous in a strange sort of way and all wearing dresses very similar in color and design.

"Did you three shop together or something?"

"What?" Piper questioned, getting smacked by Thalia as she knocked her hand away from her mouth, stopping her from chewing on her nails again.

"You three are hiding something from –"

"– limo's here! Let's go," Silena cried, jumping up and grabbing all of our coats off the back of the sofa.

"You guys aren't telling me something. I know it!"

"Just give Thalia back her baby and put this on," Piper replied, draping the faux fur jacket over my shoulders.

The limo ride seemed to drag on forever. Now that I had been out in the cold and fought for five minutes to get my dress through the door without ripping any of the tulle, I was wide awake. It also helped that Jasper was screaming his lungs off, angry that he was forced back into his car seat.

We pulled up in front of Gurney's, one of the most expensive spa resorts on Montauk and I about died. Limos were pulling in and out of the drive, little girls were crawling out of their vehicles with their father's in tow, dressed like tiny little princesses, young couples, older couples, all dressed to the nines were also trying to race into the resort, all in an attempt to escape the snow.

"You ready?" Piper asked, a smiled plastered across her face as she moved closer to the door.

I could tell how excited she was simply by her demeanor. She bounced on the balls of her feet, hands clasped in front of her as she took in the scene before us.

I stuck a hand out and allowed her to help me out of the vehicle and a massive smile spread across my face as the five of us made our way to the door.

Had I been paying attention, I would have noticed Katie running around like a maniac snapping pictures left and right but the excitement of the ball had taken over as I took in every detail. We moved into the massive open lobby, following the flow of mini princesses and couples and I was stopped by Thalia.

"This way first, Blondie. We have to meet the guys and get photos and all of that fun stuff," she practically whispered to me and suddenly I felt like something was possibly wrong.

"Wait, what on earth is going on? They do pictures at the ball and carriage rides, which I am sure will be cancelled with all the snow, but you guys aren't telling me something!"

"Calm down, love. There is nothing going on," Silena laughed. "Percy just has some things set up before we enter the ball. First thing, pictures. The group of us and just you and him and what not. So follow me," she finished, linking her arm in mine and leading me over to the elevator.

We piled into the car, Thalia and Jasper taking up the space up front, leaving me crammed in the back and suddenly hot flashing, wishing I could get off the massive hunk of metal before I threw up all over the back of my friends.

The elevator came to a violent stop and I turned to face the wall for a moment, trying desperately to stop the churning in my gut. Gentle hands touched my waist and carefully pulled me out of the car.

"Come on Owlet, I've got ya."

I turned on my heels quickly, a little too quickly, but I managed to stay in just enough control as I threw myself into my father's chest.

"What are you doing here?"

"I am part of your present," he replied quietly. I felt him doing something with his other arm but I shrugged it off as I hugged him tighter.

"Is _she_ with you?"

He sighed heavily, "You know she is."

"Does she have to be? I mean, can't you just do something for me for once and not let her ruin the moment, or make me feel absolutely horrible for even being alive?"

"I promise you, there will be no issues tonight. There shouldn't be any from here on out."

"You can't make that promise, Dad. You know she hates me," I cried into his shoulder, wishing the tears away.

"She doesn't hate you, Annabeth."

"Please Dad, she made her feelings about me known since you two met! She never bothered to get to know me. She was all hung up on the fact that I existed and that I kept you tied to mom. She really let me know what she thought of me and Percy just a few short weeks ago, or did you forget that already? I mean, because how could you not have heard that fight."

"Owlet, you need to calm down. Today is your day to be treated like a princess," he whispered, pushing a stray curl back into its place. "You don't need to be stressed out right now."

I gave him a cross look, crossing my arms over my chest and standing my ground, but from what I wasn't exactly sure.

"Yes, I heard that part of the fight as well. Now, come on. We have pictures out on the top deck. Now follow me and wipe that angry look off your face. Percy has set up something wonderful for you."

I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath and held it.

"That's my girl. Now, keep your eyes closed. I want to see your face when you see what that boy has done for you."

"Wait, I thought we were doing pictures?"

"In a little bit. Your first gift for tonight was me. Now, eyes closed and hang on. We're moving."

A groan escaped me as I did as I was told, stepping timidly as people bustled around us. "Good lord Dad, do you think you could walk any faster," I cried out, trying not to trip over my dress or anyone around me.

"Oh, you're fine. Now stop right here . . . and keep your eyes closed!"

I stood absolutely still as I listened to the movement and whispers around me. "She's beautiful Momma," I heard a little girl whisper as they tried to pass by my giant skirt.

A small smile graced my lips as I waited impatiently for my father to tell me to open my eyes.

"Okay, Owlet, time to open your eyes."

My eyes immediately popped open and I was bum rushed by an amazing sight. Before me was what I assumed was the top deck, draped with large clear tents and looking out over the bay. There were about twenty tables with soft aqua table cloths and silver sequin runners placed precisely in the middle. Vases in various sizes all holding stark white tulips that were spritzed with that same soft aqua glitter were wrapped in baby's breath with tiny silver snowflakes glittering despite the lack of sunlight.

"What on . . ." I trailed off, trying to take in the entire sight.

My heart was about to beat out of my chest, Percy had been up to more than I ever thought possible and my eyes wandered down the middle of the aisle and there was Percy, at the end of the soft aqua carpet that led to a makeshift altar. My hands flew to my mouth as I realized what was going on and my father had to grab me by the elbow to keep me from flying down the aisle at my fiancé.

 ** _Percy_**  
My arms flailed at my sides, a terrible nervous tick I developed from my swim days. My neck cracked and I panicked as Thalia, Silena and Piper entered the tent without Annabeth. The time was almost here and I was beyond worried as to what her choice would be. I looked around the deck, a smiled at the group of friends and family that gathered and then the smile dropped as my eyes landed on Helen. Lord, that woman was going to be the death of me but as of now, Frederick was right and she was on her best behavior.

"She doesn't have a clue what is going on," Thalia let out in an exhausted sigh as she tried to calm Jasper on her chest. "I love the girl but it kills me that she hasn't figured this out, especially after you proposed to her the other day." She began to smack at me, one hand landing where ever it could, "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Owe, owe, Thalia! Knock it off," I cried out, trying to dodge her hits. "I was thinking that she needed that little peace of mind. Have you seen her lately? She is a total mess and I just needed to give her that okay."

Thalia softened and backed away from me. "I am praying this goes as planned Kelp Head. Now get ready. Her father should be bringing her to the door any minute."

The doors opened once again and there was Annabeth, standing next to her father, looking absolutely stunning. Her dress hugged her curves perfectly and my jaw dropped to the floor. She had never looked more beautiful. I couldn't take my eyes off her as she took in everything before her. She smiled and my heart jumped as her hand went to her mouth.

In a moment everything changed as she looked up at me, love in her eyes and then suddenly she was making a beeline for me, but Frederick grabbed her by the elbow, slowing her down and the look in her eyes was something else. Something I couldn't quite place at the moment.

The wedding march began to play and she slowed down, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes as she gripped her father's arm tighter. On the plus side, she wasn't going to kill me, at least not yet. She still wasn't at the alter yet, so there was still time for her to change her mind.

The pair stopped in front of me and somewhere the music stopped as the minister stepped forward.

"Who gives this woman to this man?"

Frederick smiled at Annabeth and then at me and answered, "I do."

A cough echoed in the crowd and he changed his tone, "We do; her brothers, step-mother and I give her to this man."

At that point, everything happened in a blur. She took my hand and I had to force myself to pay attention to the minister as he spoke to us. I couldn't pull my eyes from hers, the stormy gray they had been for the last couple of weeks had faded and they now shone like silver orbs. The tears that swirled around almost made them glitter in the light which pulled me in even more.

There was a squeeze of my hand and Annabeth nodded her head toward the minister and I turned mine to see him smiling at me waiting for something.

"Mr. Jackson?"

"Yes?"

The crowd behind me giggled lightly and the minister spoke once more. He spit out the vows waiting for me to repeat after him and I did so, making sure to not take my eyes off my bride as she beamed with each line. Everything moved in a blur as Thalia then stepped forward with a sleeping Jasper and a small white pillow tied to him that held our wedding bands.

"Percy, if you would."

I carefully untied the dainty white gold band and then took her left hand in mine. My heart suddenly felt like it was going to beat out of my chest and I was surprised that no one else could hear it, let alone see its erratic movements.

"Percy Jackson, repeat after me." I simply nodded, not tearing my eyes from hers as he started again. "Annabeth Chase, with this ring, I thee wed."

"Annabeth Chase, my Wise Girl, my love and best friend, with this ring," I whispered, slowing pushing the ring down her finger, "I thee wed."

Her right hand went to her mouth and for a moment I thought I had lost her. I thought she was about to bolt and all of my nightmares were going to come true. Instead she hiccupped and tried to keep her sobs of joy at bay and I breathed an internal sigh of relief.

It was now her turn as she quickly pulled the ring from the safety of the pillow and grabbed my left hand, holding the ring steady over my ring finger. The minster glanced over at her and she smiled through the tears that broke free.

"Come on, we don't have all day," she pleaded with the man of God and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Annabeth, repeat after me, Percy Jackson, with this ring, I thee wed."

"Perseus Jackson, my Seaweed Brain, my better half, my everything, with this ring, I thee wed."

I pulled her toward me, about to kiss the woman but the minister quickly stepped between us.

"Slow down a second son. I have to make it official!"

I smiled, and shrugged my shoulders slightly, embarrassment taking over for just a brief moment, but no one else seemed to notice. They knew how long we had been waiting, and how much I wanted to make her my wife. They knew that this was our moment and I knew they knew that as I looked out at the small group, tears in everyone's eyes, including the wicked step-mother Helen. I turned back to the minister as he placed his hands on his bible, smiling like a mad man.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I pronounce, Mr. and Mrs. Percy Jackson. You may _now_ , kiss the bride."

I didn't waste any time and pulled her to me, cupping her face in my hands and resting my forehead against hers.

"I love you more than you will ever know," I whispered as she smiled at me.

"Get on with it!"

"Kiss her already!"

The voices of my friends rang out around us but I could only concentrate on her and her lips on mine as we made it official. Cheers rang out around us as she returned the kiss.

 ** _Annabeth_**  
He pushed me away from him, turning me out and then moments later, pulling me back in. I couldn't help but giggle as we spun around the floor with the rest of the attendants of the Cinderella Ball.

The song faded out and a slow song began as he pulled me close, one arm wrapped around my waist and his right hand pushing the stray curls back behind my ear.

"How did you manage this?"

"What?"

"All of this?" I questioned him, flinging an arm out, encompassing the entire ball room. "I mean every last bit of today? How long have you been saving and planning for all of this?"

"Honestly, I have been saving since we started dating. I always knew you would be my wife one day and I always wanted to give you something special. This idea however hit me last year, just after we realized the ball was sold out once again and I couldn't take you. I knew this was what I wanted to do."

I looked around the room, our friends dancing, laughing and celebrating everything there was to celebrate and a genuine smile crossed my lips for the first time in what felt like weeks.

My moment was quickly ruined and my smile fell just as fast as it arrived when I realized that Helen was standing just behind Percy.

He sensed my uneasiness and turned his head in the direction I was glaring.

"Do you want me to stay? She really looks like she wants to talk. I won't leave you if you don't want me to."

My head was screaming at him to stay, but I needed to be a big girl and suck this up and tell her where to shove it after all this time. I placed my hands on his shoulders, steadying him. He looked like a wild animal ready to tear into its prey. It was quiet endearing but I needed to handle this. If I needed him, I would tag him in.

"I have this, Perce. Just let me . . ." I paused, trying to find the right wording for what was about to happen. A sigh escaped me and I kissed him on the cheek. "Just stay close."

He nodded and moved a few feet away as I took a few timid steps toward my step-mother. I stopped a few feet short of her and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Annabeth, I need to say some things to you."

I shifted, trying to calm myself, afraid that a screaming match might ensue. This was definitely not the place for that to happen.

"While your actions today don't forgive your previous ones, I do want to say that I am sorry and that I hope you forgive me."

"Why on God's green earth would I forgive you?" I almost clasped a hand over my mouth at that comment but she deserved what was coming to her.

She was taken aback and shook her head. "Your father almost left me."

"Good. He should have done that years ago."

"Are you seriously going to wish divorce upon us?"

"What do you want, Helen? Today is _my_ day. It is not the time for you to start throwing all kinds of trivial family shit in my face. Do you get that? Of course, you don't! You were the one that broke up my family! _You_ are the one that seduced dad, and while he and mom were having issues, _you_ were the one that pressed the matter and drove the final wedge between my parents. Don't try to deny that either. Dad told me the whole story when I was ten."

The look of shock on her face was priceless, but the release I was suddenly getting from the years of pent up anger was beyond words.

"You tortured me; hated me for everything Dad did for me. I am his child, and I come first, just as he puts the boys before you. Don't know if you actually notice that or not? I doubt it because you are so self-absorbed to notice anything other than what doesn't go according to your plans which is why you two fight like cats and dogs."

"Listen here –"

"– no ma'am. I am done taking orders from you. Dad deserves so much better than you have ever given him. I deserved better and I got better in Percy. I will not let you ruin this night for me. That man over there," I nodded my head in his direction and gave him a weak smile. He quickly changed position and started toward me but I shook my head and he relaxed back into his previous stance. "He knows how to treat a woman, and not just me, but any woman he meets. We may have done things out of order, but I don't know what you are basing that on since you were pregnant with the twins before Mom and Dad even had the divorce papers signed."

"I simply wanted better for you. I always have."

"You have a very odd way of showing it, Helen. I can forgive you, but that does not mean that I will ever forget the things you have done and said to me. I appreciate the effort, or lack thereof, seeing as how you tried to make my night about you. It's a step in the right direction I think, but we are going to leave it at that."

Tears pooled in the corner of her eyes and I wanted to feel bad for her, but in that moment, I just couldn't. My soul, however, felt free and relaxed for the first time in years.

"Now, if you don't mind, I am going to enjoy the rest of this evening with my family, friends, and most importantly, my husband. Good evening, Helen."

I turned back toward Percy and almost skipped back to him when a voice rang out behind me.

"I am sorry, Annabeth. I am truly sorry."

I stopped dead in my tracks. A heavy sigh left my body. I refused to acknowledge her. I wasn't going to play into her games anymore and finished making my way to Percy.

He held his arms out to me and I decided it was time to tell him everything. If he could do all of this for me, I could do this one thing for him. As I reached him, his arms immediately wrapped around me, covering me in a warm cocoon. I pulled him toward me even more and kissed him lightly on the lips.

Another slow song started and he slowly began to guide me around the room. "Did everything go okay? I mean you didn't come back in tears, so that has to be a good thing right?"

A smile washed over me. "She tried to apologize. Years of torment and she thinks that I am just going to forgive her in one fell swoop and everything will be okay. I have learned that it is okay to forgive her but I don't have to forget and most certainly don't have to act like everything is okay."

He whispered in my ear, spinning us around the floor, "How long have I been telling you this?"

"I know," I whispered back, "sometimes I just need to figure things out in my own time."

We spun around the floor, eyes only locked on each other. In that moment there was no one but us anyway. It was perfect. We were perfect. That was when I leaned in, kissing him lightly on the lips before spilling my guts to him. I prayed he could hear me over the music and in that instant I knew he could as I felt him go limp for a moment, only to tense before he spoke.

"Are you serious?"

Worry seeped into my veins and I nodded slowly, only to be pulled back into his embrace. "I love you more than you will ever know, Wise Girl!"

A sigh of relief escaped me, followed by tears of joy. Our lives were complete.

* * *

 **AN**

Sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry! I know it's been like a year. Again, sorry! Between work, family and just total writer's block, I didn't have it in me to even finish this. You can thank my beta, the love **MrsPercyJacson3** for getting my butt in gear and making me finish this and for editing!

Enjoy, and there will be a special epilogue here soon. This one I can guarantee because it is finished. Miss Beta just needs to do her thang!

Hope you enjoy!


	14. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

 **3.45 AM – August 18th**

 ** _Annabeth_**  
"Percy. Percy, get up," I groaned at the man. He refused to budge and I was seriously contemplating throwing a bucket of water on him, the only issue was I couldn't make it to the garage on my own.

"Ugh . . . Annabeth, go back to bed!"

"Perseus Jackson, so help me god, if you don't get your ass up right now I am going to squeeze this baby out right here!"

That got his attention.

"What? I'm up, I'm up," he screamed at me, throwing the covers back and jumping up out of the bed.

It was in that moment that another contraction hit and I doubled over into his arms.

"For real this time?" All I could do was nod. "How far apart are the contractions? Water break yet? Are you positive it's for real this time?"

"Oh my god, shut up Percy," I groaned into his chest as the pain that started in my back surged forward across the top of my abdomen and then down to my pelvic floor. I wasn't to the hard part of having this baby and already I was done.

The pain eased and I looked up at him with tears in my eyes, "I am sorry. I've never been in this much pain in my life."

He kissed my forehead and forced me to sit on the edge of the bed. "Don't move. I'll be right back."

"Yeah, 'cos I'm really going anywhere," I deadpanned.

"Don't be an ass," he yelled from the bathroom.

He emerged, several minutes later, unruly raven hair brushed to the best of his ability, face washed, eyes bloodshot from a lack of sleep (he should have thought about that before staying up until one-thirty playing video games with my brothers) and fully dressed in his black Ecko sweatpants and a plain gray tee.

"Are you going for a jog?"

"Be nice to me, or you will squeeze that baby out right here!"

I was about to flip him the bird when another contraction hit and my hand went protectively to my belly.

"Ha! Serves you right for being mean to me," he exclaimed, moving toward me, the toiletry kit in hand, explaining as he went. "The only thing not packed. Figured you wouldn't want dragon breath while in the hospital."

I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the best I could do was concentrate on the vent grate in the floor in an attempt to ignore him.

"Shit, I should have been timing those."

The contraction finally eased up and I looked down at my phone. "Eight minutes. They are getting closer and a lot more painful."

"Come on. Let's get you to the car."

I gave him a weak nod and stood, taking a step toward him, only to stop dead in my tracks.

"Come on Annabeth, I can't get you there if you just stand here!"

"My water just broke," I said in a panicked whisper.

"That's it," he cried, slamming the toiletry kit into my chest, "definitely time to go! Hold on Beth," he said, scooping me up in his arms and making his way to the staircase, "its baby time!"

"You are such a dork," I replied with a slight laugh, praying he wouldn't drop me on the way down.

 **5.25 AM**

 ** _Percy_** _  
The doctor just left, she is fully effaced (whatever that means) and seven centimeters. She is refusing the epidural and is asking that only Mom and Thalia come in before the baby gets here. Since she is the one doing all of the work, I will fully abide by her rules. Don't get me in trouble! I will let everyone know by text when the baby gets here and when you can visit. Love you all, Percy – P.S. If I left someone out, please send this text along to them._

I hit send on the massive group text and prayed that I had hit everyone. I turned back to look at my wife as she tried to breathe through the contractions that were hitting her almost nonstop. Instinctively I pressed my thumbs into her temples and began massaging gentle circles and she relaxed under the pressure.

"What do you need me to do?"

She huffed several times in a desperate attempt to catch her breath. "Get this baby out," she cried quietly. "I'm exhausted and I don't think I can hang in there much longer."

I kissed her forehead and began rubbing her back. "All I can do is get a nurse and pray you have time for an epidural babe."

A small cry left her lips and I was grateful that she couldn't see my face as tears began to well in my eyes. I had never seen her in this much physical pain before and part of me wondered if some of her pain was stemming from the fact that her mother wasn't here with her through this whole experience.

"Can you ask them if I can get up and pace the room? I can't lie here anymore."

"On it." I dashed out of the room and almost ran into the nurse headed back toward our direction. "Can I get some help in my wife's room?"

"Sure, what can I help you guys with?"

"She was just checked a few minutes ago and is only seven centimeters, but she's been lying in the bed for hours. She wants to know if she can get up and pace the room?" I asked, shrugging and hanging on to the doorknob.

"Let me check her again and we can go from there."

My head nodded as I wasn't sure what else I could do. I was feeling absolutely worthless as I held the door open for the fourth nurse that had entered our room this morning.

"How you doing Mom?"

"I would be doing a lot better if I could get up. I can't lie here any longer."

Tears streamed from Annabeth's eyes and I tried to remain strong, moving back toward her side so I could help in anyway the nurse asked.

"I am sure you know the drill by now," the nurse said quietly as she pulled on a glove.

Annabeth groaned and I held her hand as the nurse did her thing.

"Alright mom, you are at seven centimeters still, and since you aren't on an IV, I am going to let you pace the room. Dad, if anything seems off, you come out there and flag one of us down immediately."

I nodded and grabbed Annabeth's other hand and helped her into a sitting position. She immediately got up, placed her hands on her lower back and began to pace the room as the nurse left, shaking her head in the process.

"Is your goal to walk this baby out?"

She whipped her head around and glared at me. "I don't want to hear a word out of you! You did this to me!"

Part of me wanted to cower in the corner of the room but instead I moved so that I was standing in front of her and wrapped my arms around her.

"I'm sorry," she cried into my chest as she leaned heavily into me. "I don't know why I keep being so mean to you!"

"You're in labor, babe. You can scream anything you want at me."

"Please don't give me that option because I most likely will."

We stood like that for several minutes, me rubbing her back as she cried into my chest, contraction after contraction taking over.

"Why won't this kid come out?"

"I don't know, love, you have only been pacing for like two and half minutes."

"Shut up. You really aren't helping any."

"I know. Now walk to your little heart's content."

My phone buzzed across the room and I left her to her pacing. She seemed a little more relaxed now that she was moving again but I was still worried. I couldn't help it. We were bringing a life into the world sometime today and everything was about to change.

I picked up the phone to see that both my mother and Thalia had text. Thalia was asking for my room number while my mother was letting me know that she would be here in about an hour and half.

"Annabeth, be prepared, Thalia is about to bombard you with her presence."

"Thanks for the heads up," she growled at me, pacing the floor even faster.

Moments later, Thalia stepped in the door only to be rushed by Annabeth.

"Tell me how you did this! How on earth did you make it through this alive?"

"Woah, Blondie! Chill. First off, why are you up? Go get comfy and get the epidural. Make things easier on yourself," Thalia whispered, trying to coax Annabeth back toward the bed.

"I can't! I don't want the epidural but I need this kid out and I need it out now," she cried, going back to the pacing.

Thalia looked over at me for help and all I could do was shrug.

Annabeth stopped at the foot of her bed and started bouncing, a couple bounces on the right foot and then over to the left and then back again as she glared at Thalia.

"What are you doing? You know you can't jiggle a baby out right?"

"Says who? And what is it with all you mothers out there who won't give us new mothers any insight? Why won't you tell me your secrets? How the hell did you make yours come out?"

Annabeth bounced even faster and I jumped up, moving quickly behind her to massage her shoulders. The movement slowed as I felt her relax ever so slightly.

"Ummm, Blondie, I had him evicted. Served him with papers and everything!"

"You aren't helping at all Pinecone Face!"

"Oh shut it Percy! Seriously Annabeth, I'd give you insight if I had some, but love, remember, I had an emergency C-section. I didn't get to go into labor or anything. Therefore, I have no secrets to spill."

A groan escaped Annabeth as she doubled over, grasping at her bump while cries of pain escaped her. I did the only thing I could in the moment and massaged her lower back, asking Thalia for help with my eyes.

"I'll be right back."

"Hurry," I pushed as she ran out of the room. She returned moments later with a frantic looking nurse in tow.

"Alright Mom, back in bed with you," the nurse replied with an all too chipper voice and Annabeth responded with a groan and almost falling to the floor. The only thing keeping her standing was the fact that my arms were right there and I was able to grab her before she crashed to the floor.

Before I knew what was going on, the nurse had ushered Thalia out of the room, had Annabeth back in the bed and ready to give birth, and was flagging down our doctor, all while I was still standing to the side of the bed as Annabeth tried not to scream through the contractions.

The morning was an absolute whirlwind. Annabeth spent over an hour pushing with very little progress and I could sense the frustration in her as well as in the doctor and there was absolutely nothing I could do to help.

"Alright Mom, we have a couple of options. We can try for just a bit longer with the pushing, baby is still good, heartbeat is fine, but I am worried about you. I'm worried we are going to have to knock you out and rip this baby out."

"I don't want a C-section! Percy, tell him I absolutely _don't_ want a C-section." She looked up at me with panic in her eyes and I looked up at our doctor, the deer in the headlights look plastered on my face.

The doctor was about to speak but Annabeth pushed herself back up for the next contraction. I always knew she was strong but she grabbed my hand, squeezing so hard that I actually cried out in pain. That pain was worth it though, as in that moment the most amazing thing in the world happened. Three more pushes was all it took and our precious baby entered the world; a bundle of flailing legs and arms and lungs that could rival a playground of preschoolers.

 ** _12.30 PM_**

 ** _Annabeth_**  
Something on my chest moved and my eyes bolted open. I had to blink several times to clear them but as they drifted back down, they stopped on the messy mop of honey colored hair. A sigh of content left my body and the baby shifted, trying desperately to get comfortable once again.

Percy's arm tightened around my waist and as the baby fussed, he immediately brought his hand up and rubbed the baby's back. I smiled as he calmed the baby and yet continued to sleep, draped over the side of my bed.

A light knock on the door pulled me from my euphoria as Sally's head popped in the crack.

"Hey sweetheart, may I come in?"

I nodded at her as she smiled down at me. Her hands went straight to her mouth as she caught sight of the sleeping babe and tears sprang into her eyes.

"Oh, Annabeth, I am so sorry I wasn't here sooner. My flight was cancelled and . . . and . . . I'm just so sorry!"

"Sally, calm down. I swear, its okay. Now pick up your grandbaby."

She didn't hesitate and immediately scooped the baby up off of my chest, sitting down carefully next to me.

"Stats?"

"Seven pounds, four ounces and nineteen and a half inches."

"Are you going to tell me what it is or are you going to make me strip this poor kid to find out?"

I couldn't help it, but a laugh escaped me, startling the baby while Percy still slept like a rock next to me.

"I know you want to know. Everyone wants to know but we will tell you all once we have a name." The smile on her face fell slightly. "I know, I know. We are being the worst kids ever, but I want everyone together when we make the announcement."

"You two have made it so difficult to even do normal shopping for this kid!"

There was another knock on the door and my nurse walked in with a big smile on her face.

"Grandma, I assume?" she questioned Sally while checking on my vitals.

Sally beamed and nodded, all without ever taking her eyes off the tiny baby in her arms.

"Well, I hate to do this, but this gorgeous little one needs to head down to the nursery for just a little bit. It's time for the hearing test. We tried earlier, but this one was all lungs at the time and wasn't having anything to do with it."

"Oh fine," Sally almost whined, handing the baby over to the nurse. She then ran a hand through my curls before leaving a kiss on my forehead. "Get some rest and text me when you get up."

"Thanks Sally," I replied, stifling a yawn. Before I knew it, she was gone, as was the nurse with my newborn and I settled in next to Percy.

I wasn't sure how long I slept, but when I woke, Percy was still next to me, only this time he was holding the baby, talking quietly.

"Hello Mommy. Someone over here has been waiting rather patiently for you to wake up."

I sat up slightly, holding my hands out as he placed the baby in them. I pulled the newborn closer, taking in the sweet smell. Jasper smelled like this in my arms, though not as sweet. Maybe it was because he wasn't mine, but my baby smelled so much sweeter.

My heart skipped a beat as I watched the little face in my arms. I had been waiting nine months to see that little face. So much like mine in shape, with golden hair a few shades darker than mine. The features on the tiny face all belonged to Percy, even the unmanageable mop of hair.

I watched as Percy ran his fingers through the silky mess and I leaned in, allowing my forehead to rest against his.

"Have you figured out a name?"

"I think so," I replied quietly, watching the sweet face in front of me.

"So, out with it."

I pulled my head away from Percy's, just far enough to leave a kiss on the baby's forehead. "Happy birthday Elijah Chase Jackson." I then moved to Percy and left a small kiss on his lips and whispered, "Happy birthday, Daddy."

He returned the kiss and then with the most serious look on his face asked, "How are you going to top next year's birthday? I mean I could knock you up again but there's no guarantee that you would give birth on my birthday again."

"I can't believe you ruined such a special moment! Here I named your son and you're rambling on about topping next year's birthday!" He stopped my rant by kissing me, and pulling away several minutes later as our son let out a cry that could bust ear drums.

He went right back into father mode, kissing his crown and smoothing his hair. "Shhhhhh. Don't cry," he cooed as the baby began to relax. "Happy birthday, Eli. I love you more than you will ever know."

* * *

 **AN**

 **MrsPercyJackson3** \- Thank you for being the push that I need from time to time. And thank you for fixing all of my comma issues because apparently, I am allergic to them! (insert my LMAO emoji here ok)

 **Pearls in the Abyss** \- Well, I guess your question was answered! Hehehe. Thank you for the review, and I had to find our girl in there somewhere. I knew she needed to stand up to that woman at some point. You can only take so much in life before you blow.

I hope you guys enjoyed this fic of fluff. There may be another, but not for a while. I have some stranded on an island writing to finish. My beta WILL kill me if I don't finish that, and I am afraid of that threat because she knows where I live ;p So until we meet again, thanks for tagging along, even if I was slow as snails getting this up!

 **x0x0x rhi***


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